Finding Yourself
by dreamerwithapen
Summary: Those bright blue eyes seemed to peer into her very soul. "This is what awaits you, Raven." Lilith threw her head back and laughed as hellfire erupted from her body, and Raven did nothing as that fire devoured her. (Slow burn Natsu/OC)
1. Chapter 1

_**Edited: 11/9/16**_

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, all I own are my OCs**

* * *

"What do you think, Blayze? Time to head back?"

The bright orange exceed rubbed his head thoughtfully. "Yes, I think so. We've been gone for so long, it'll be good to relax at home again." His black eyes narrowed at the girl walking beside him. "Why we couldn't have just stayed there when we arrived this morning, I don't understand."

The young girl blinked at him. "I had to get coffee," she said as if it should be obvious.

Blayze sighed. "Mira would have given you perfectly good coffee at the guild," he reasoned.

She looked at him over the brim of her cup. "You should know by now that while in Magnolia, the only coffee I accept is from the Dream Bean Coffee Shop because-"

"They have the best coffee in all the kingdom of Fiore," he finished, rolling his eyes, "I know. You say that every time we go there."

She smirked, "So why ask?"

He glanced at her questioningly. "I just would have thought that after being gone for so long, you'd want to be at the guild with everyone," he paused then looked at her with worry filled eyes. "Is it because of what ha-"

She cut him off quickly, "No, Blayze, it wasn't because of that."

"Then why?"

She rolled her eyes and smirked. "I told you. I wanted the best coffee in Fiore. Now, quit yapping and pick up the pace."

He gave her an exasperated look and sprouted his wings, but when she turned away, his brows furrowed in worry.

 _Raven_ , _you need to tell someone what happened,_ he thought. _Keeping this to yourself will eat you alive._

* * *

Back at the guild, some members were in an uproar.

"What?!" Lucy gasped.

"Gajeel!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Him? Are you kidding? Why'd you let him in here, Gramps?" Grey shouted.

Erza looked furious, "I don't mind Juvia, but he's the one that destroyed our guild."

"Now, now, remember what I taught you. Yesterday's enemy can be today's friend, right? I know you kids don't like it, but as the master of this guild, it's my duty to help those who have gone astray find the right path. Give him a shot. You might find out he's a nice guy," Makarov stated.

"And besides, if Raven of all people can accept him, so can you," he said offhandedly and got just the reaction he was expecting.

"What?!" Grey yelled.

Natsu and Happy paled. "S-she's back?"

Erza's eyes widened. "She's returned? Where is she?"

Just like that, Gajeel was forgotten.

Makarov smiled. "Yes, she and Blayze checked in with me this morning, but they've been out for most of the day. No one else knows she's here either, but they should be back soon."

"I didn't expect her to come back so soon. Did she say how the job went?" Erza questioned.

Makarov nodded. "It was a success."

"And I thought Erza coming back was scary," Happy whimpered.

"Same here. B-but hey, it's been a while. Maybe she's not so terrifying anymore," Natsu said hopefully.

"I doubt that," Grey said seriously, "I bet the job will only have made her stronger."

Natsu and Happy sweatdropped.

* * *

Lucy sat at the bar and turned to Mirajane. "Hey, who's this Raven girl they're talking about? And why are Natsu and Happy so scared?"

Mirajane blinked. "I forgot that you've never met her. Raven is one of Fairy Tail's S-Class wizards."

"What?" Lucy exclaimed, "I thought you and Erza were the only female S-Class wizards."

Mira shook her head, smiling. "No, Raven is one also. You haven't met her because she's been away for about 8 months on a job."

"Eight months? Wow, what job would take that long?"

"She had to take out a dark guild that was causing trouble in Crocus," Mira explained.

"She defeated a dark guild all on her own?" Lucy asked.

Mira nodded, "It was supposed to be a year long job, but she finished up early which isn't surprising. She's always finished jobs faster than expected."

 _Jeez_ , Lucy thought, _Just how strong is this girl?_

Before she could ask, Mira continued. "As for why Natsu and Happy are so scared, it's because Raven has beaten them up quite a bit," she laughed. "Happy gets on her nerves, and Natsu is constantly challenging her to a fight."

Lucy sighed. "He seems to have a habit of doing that. So, what kind of magic does-"

"She's back!" Elfman bellowed.

Lucy turned around, expecting the reaction to be much like when Erza had arrived, but instead of deathly silence, everyone started talking and shouting excitedly. Lucy just stared curiously at the door, waiting for her to walk in. She was nervous at the thought of meeting another S-Class wizard, especially one that put that much fear into Natsu.

 _You were afraid of Erza to_ , she told herself, _This is no different._

But despite her reassuring thoughts, her heart still pounded, and she held her breath, waiting for the terrifying girl to walk through the doors. And she didn't have to wait long. Just a few seconds later, the doors swung open revealing her.

Lucy sweatdropped. _This was the girl everyone was so afraid of?_

Raven was a short, slim girl with thick black hair tied back in a messy braid, sparkling violet eyes, and had an amused smile on her face.

Lucy supposed, that if anything, it was her outward appearance that was intimidating.

She had on a form fitting gray tank top, black skinny jeans, and knee high black combat boots. Around her waist was a weapon's belt with a sword sheath on her left side that held a katana and on her right side was a dual blade dagger. Lucy could see the tip of its twin peaking out of her boot. On top of it all, she wore a black cloak that was bright blue on the inside.

As Lucy was taking in her appearance, others were crowding around her to welcome her back, and it wasn't until Raven shifted to the side that Lucy saw an exceed, resembling a fox, standing at her side.

* * *

Raven smiled slightly when everyone came forward excitedly, and her smile grew when she saw Erza approaching.

As Erza pulled her in for a hug, she said, "It's good to have you back, Raven. It's been too long."

"Tell me about it," she said as they let go, "I know it's been a while, but I wasn't expecting a new guild hall and this many new members."

Erza glanced at Gajeel. "Yes, a lot has happened in your absence."

Before she could reply, the breath was knocked out of her as someone yanked her in for a hug.

"I'm so happy that you're back home, Raven," Mira said, hugging her tight before pulling back, "The guild hasn't been the same without you."

She smiled slightly. "It's good to be back. I've missed all of you guys."

Then, a little blue bullet came flying at her.

"Raven!" Happy cried, latching onto her, "I'm so glad you're back. I've missed you so much."

She patted his back and sighed. "This one, not so much," she said, dryly.

Mira and Erza chuckled at her words.

Suddenly, Happy was gone, and Natsu stood in front of her grinning and fists blazing. "Now that you're back, it's time for a fight! It's been getting too boring without you here."

She raised a brow, crossing her arms. "How many times do I have to tell you, Natsu? I'm not interested in fighting you."

"We'll see about that!" he yelled, swinging his fiery fist at her.

She ducked under it and delivered a swift punch to his stomach that sent him flying back into the wall.

"Idiot," Grey muttered.

"He should know better by now," Erza sighed.

"Natsu!" Happy cried and went flying to him.

Feeling a light weight on her shoulder, she turned her head and found Blayze looking at her.

"You could've handled that better," he commented.

Raven blinked innocently. "What? He came at me."

Blayze just shook his head at her.

Smirking, she looked away and saw someone new standing in front of her.

The blonde girl held out a slightly shaky hand. "Hi, my name is Lucy. I just joined the guild recently."

Raven shook her hand, "I'm Raven."

"It's nice to meet you, and if you don't mind my asking, who's this?" Lucy asked, staring at her shoulder.

"Oh, this is Blayze, my exceed," she explained.

"Nice to meet you, Lucy," Blayze said politely.

"Um, you to," she murmured, looking surprised.

"Raven!" Erza called, "Let's sit down, and I'll tell you everything that's happened while you've been away."

"Sounds good," she replied, then turned back to Lucy, "It was nice meeting you, Lucy. If you'll excuse me."

She gave Lucy a small smile and made her way to the table where Erza, Grey, Levy, and Natsu sat with Blayze trailing behind her. She took the place next to Levy and across from Erza, and Blayze sat on the table in front of her. She sat quietly, listening as Erza told her about Lullaby, Galuna Island, Phantom Lord, and the Tower of Heaven. As she had been talking, Mira and Lucy had joined them, and everyone at the table added their own comments during the stories. When Raven heard about Jellal and everything that happened because of him, her jaw clenched as anger coursed through her body.

When Erza had arrived at the guild all those years ago, Raven had been the first one to knock down the walls she had. Erza had explained to her what had happened to her as a child and how she escaped. And aside from Gramps, Erza was the only one who knew about Raven's past before Fairy Tail. The two of them had become close over the years, and when they both made S-Class, they became even closer. Erza had become a dear friend to Raven over the years, so to hear what Jellal put her through made her furious.

She gripped her coffee cup until her knuckles were white. "I should have been here. I don't care if Jellal was possessed, what he did is unforgivable."

"It's okay, Raven. It's all over now," Erza assured.

Raven locked eyes with her. "Is he dead?"

Erza took a deep breath. "The Tower collapsed, and Jellal was in it. By all logic he should be dead."

"But?" she prompted.

Erza sighed. "But I believe that he's still alive."

Raven's response was not what any of them were expecting. "Good."

"Why is that good?" Grey asked.

She glanced over at him, and everyone saw that her violet eyes were hard as stone. "Because that means that I can kill him myself."

After a few moments of uneasy silence, Mira broke it, "So, Raven, why don't you tell us about your job? Master said that it was successful."

She could sense Blayze staring at her, and she knew that he wanted her to tell them everything. After a moment she glanced up at them with a bored expression.

"There's nothing to tell, really. It was a rather small guild called Dark Python, and it was made up of mostly lower level wizards and only a handful of strong ones. It wasn't hard to find them because they didn't exactly try to keep their hideout a secret. When I arrived, the weaker ones attacked first. Once I took them out, the stronger wizards finally decided to show themselves. They were a bit difficult, but nothing too bad. Then, it was just a matter of waiting for the Council to show up and take them away." She sighed, "The only reason I was gone so long was because getting to Crocus took forever. The job itself was simple."

Mira smiled. "I'm not surprised. I knew you would get it done just fine."

Lucy stared at her in amazement. "That's incredible."

"Thanks," she said a bit uncomfortably, "But really, it was no big deal."

"Alright," Erza said, "How about we get some drinks?"

As everyone got up to go to the bar, she gave Erza a grateful look, and she simply nodded in response. Erza knew that she got flustered when praised and had taken the attention off of her.

As everyone got their drinks, Raven stayed at the table and stretched out, making herself comfortable.

"You should've told them," Blayze said, frowning. "If you're not going to tell Master, you should at least tell Erza. She would understand."

She leaned back and closed her eyes. "There's no reason to tell her. It's done and over, and I'm fine."

He scowled. "No, you're not. Why can't you just admit that it has you worried?"

She stayed silent for a few minutes. "Because doing that won't make it any better. It won't solve the problem."

"So you're just going to ignore it until it goes away?" he demanded.

"That's what I do best." She opened her eyes and smirked, "Oh, stop frowning, cat. It's not a good look on you."

She grinned as he rolled his eyes and groaned. She closed her eyes again as everyone came back to the table talking with food and drinks in hand. She stayed that way while Mira got on stage and sang. For once, the guild was nice and peaceful.

That is, until Gajeel got on stage. At the sound of his voice, Raven started chuckling. He actually wasn't too bad, but everyone started yelling, and eventually, Natsu had to be his usual stupid self and start a fight with the Iron Dragon Slayer which, of course, caused everyone to fight. Raven let her head thump against the table as the sound of fighting filled her head.

 _Well,_ she thought sadly, _the peace and quiet was nice while it lasted._

Just then, her sensitive ears picked up the sound of something coming at her face. Quickly, she snatched Blayze from the table and pushed her chair back just as a flash of metal passed right in front of her.

Scowling, she looked over at Erza fighting Elfman. "Watch where you're swinging that thing, Scarlet!"

She glanced down at Blayze with brows raised, and he looked up at her with wide eyes. "You wanted to come back here, why?"

And then, to top off her good mood, a chair slammed into her back, causing her to fall from hers, and Blayze went flying from her arms with a startled yelp. She slowly stood up from the ground and glowered at everyone still fighting.

"I've had enough of this," she growled. She stalked over to the middle of the room and knelt down on one knee, while placing the palm of her hand on the ground. Black mist formed all around her and pulsed for a few seconds. Then, with a few words, the mist exploded around her like an atomic bomb. The force of it sent everyone flying into the walls, effectively stopping all fighting. Satisfied, Raven stood up, the only one unharmed.

"Much better," she said before taking her original place at the table, putting her feet up, and closing her eyes once more.

* * *

Lucy struggled to grab on to the edge of the bar. Once she did, she pulled herself up and stood on wobbly legs, taking in the sight.

Everyone was strewn across the room. Some were against the walls, some on tables, and some had even flown through the doors and landed outside. She was shocked to see even Erza lying dazed on the ground. They all, like her, were groaning and struggling to get up. She shook her head, trying to clear it. One second, she was sitting on a stool, chatting with Mira, the next, she was flying over the top of the bar. She had no idea what had caused such an explosion until she saw Raven leaning back in her chair, looking half asleep.

She gaped at the girl, wondering what she had done, until she heard a groan next to her. Looking down, she saw Mira sitting up. Feeling like her legs were gonna give out any second, she plopped down next to Mira and looked at her confused.

"What the heck just happened?" she exclaimed, "What did Raven do? And what kind of magic was that?"

Mira looked at her with amused eyes. "What Raven just did was her own version of a bomb. And she did it using her dragon slayer magic."

Lucy's eyes widened. "So, she is a dragon slayer?"

Mira nodded, looking proud. "Yup, Raven is Fairy Tail's Shadow Dragon Slayer."

* * *

 **Alright, so with this chapter, there wasn't any super important changes. I mainly just fixed some grammar mistakes and added a bit more detail about Raven's mission, but I'm already a lot happier with this chapter than the original one.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed it!**

 **Until next time:)**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Edited: 11/9/16**_

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, all I own are my OCs**

* * *

"Raven, come on. It's time to wake up."

Her brow twitched at the grating voice.

"Stop being lazy and get up."

She stuffed her face further into her pillow.

"You're so childish sometimes. Hurry up and get your lazy ass out of bed. We're gonna miss the Harvest Festival."

Slowly, her head lifted from her pillow, revealing her grumpy face. "And your point is?"

Blayze crossed his arms and sighed. "We've missed it the last two years because we're always away on jobs, Raven, so I don't plan on missing this one."

"Then by all means, go. You can tell me all about it later," she muttered, before closing her eyes.

His eyes narrowed. "Oh no you don't. You are not sleeping through this." He got up from his place at the foot of the bed and climbed to where her head lay.

Her hand shot out and latched onto the blanket at the same time he did. She glared at him through slitted eyes. "You wouldn't dare," she hissed.

They locked eyes.

"Try me," he said, then with a dramatic burst of his wings, he started pulling with all his strength.

When she felt the blanket tug, Raven yanked them back just as hard. Their little battle of tug-of-war lasted for a few minutes before Blayze let go suddenly, resulting in Raven punching herself.

Groaning, she rubbed her sore nose and glowered at the smirking cat floating above the bed. With a twitch of her hand, a shadow wrapped around his body and threw him into the wall across the room. Satisfied, she settled back into bed, when someone knocked.

She groaned loudly and pulled the pillow over her head.

Erza's voice sounded through the door. "Stop complaining and get out of bed, Raven. You're not going to miss the Festival this year."

After a few seconds, Raven heard her continue down the hall. She sighed knowing that if she wasn't down there soon, Erza would drag her down. Not wanting that to happen, Raven languidly shoved the blankets off and sat up. Looking down, she saw Blayze sitting against the wall, rubbing his head, glaring at her.

"Oh, don't give me that look," she said scowling, "You knew that was coming."

She swung her legs off the bed and made her way to the closet to grab some clothes then went into the bathroom. After a quick shower, she threw on black skinny jeans and a flowy sky blue tank top then pulled her long, curly hair into a high ponytail.

She stepped out of the bathroom, walking past a slightly irritated Blayze, and put on her combat boots. Next, she gently put on the necklace that her foster father had given her. Hanging from the silver chain was a dragon's breath opal pendant. Inside, deep blues and reds swirled together and gave off a soft glow. She gazed at it for a moment with sad eyes before tucking it under her shirt. Finally, after putting on her black and blue cloak, she was ready.

Blayze landed lightly on her shoulder as she made her way out of the room. She strolled down the halls of Fairy Hills, taking in the strangely silent building. Usually in the mornings, the place was loud with the sound of giggly girls getting ready; however, today it seemed that everyone had left early to get to the guild.

As they made their way out the front doors, she winced at the bright sun and sighed. "It's way too early to be out here."

Blayze rolled his eyes. "I think you can handle it for one day. Besides, today will be fun. It'll be nice to see the Festival and be in the Parade again."

"Yea, I guess," she grumbled.

"Why are you so grumpy? Shouldn't you be excited?" he asked.

"I'll be happier when the Miss Fairy Tail Contest is over. If it was up to me, I'd skip that whole thing entirely. It's always so loud and chaotic when they're getting ready, and the contest itself is pointless," she scowled. "It's not based on your skills. It's just a stupid beauty contest."

"There's no reason for you to get bent out of shape about it," he said. "It's not as if you're competing. All you have to do is watch."

"That's still torturous," she muttered.

* * *

The second Raven opened the door to the guild hall, the noise seemed to grow ten times louder. She had heard it from a mile away and wanted to turn back then, but Blayze insisted that they keep going. Now, she was regretting listening to him. The girls were rushing all over the place, trying to finish any last minute details; meanwhile, the guys sat in front of the stage, chatting excitedly about the contest and practically drooling already.

 _I'm glad I bought an extra large coffee today_ , she thought tiredly.

She slowly made her way through the crowd and sat at a table with Gray, Elfman, Natsu, and Happy.

"Hey, I'm surprised you made it," Gray said.

"Yea," Natsu added, "I thought you would have slept through the whole thing."

"I tried to," she grumbled, glaring at Blayze.

He huffed. "Get over it already. I told you we weren't gonna miss it this year."

She rolled her eyes and looked over when she felt a weight on her shoulder.

"You should totally enter the contest, Raven," Happy laughed. "I bet if you walked on stage in a bikini, you'd sweep away the competition."

Growling, she grabbed a hold of his tail and threw him into the crowd. The boys sweatdropped at the dark look on her face.

"I knew I shouldn't have come," she muttered.

While everyone chatted, waiting for the contest to start, Raven sat quietly, sipping her coffee. Finally, after what seemed like hours, it started. Max appeared on stage to introduce the contestants. The first two were Cana and Juvia, who both got a loud applause when they changed to bikinis. Next was the person that everyone always looked forward to the most, Mira. Since she was a swimsuit model, the crowd was expecting something great, so they were all shocked when she came out and started to change her face to members of the guild. Raven couldn't contain her laughter when she saw the looks of horror on all the guy's faces.

"Maybe this contest isn't half bad," she chuckled.

She couldn't help but grin when she saw Erza come out next. Even the great Titania couldn't resist competing. Once Erza left the stage, Raven knew she had it in the bag. Next, Levy came out and showed off her Solid Script magic. After her came Bisca, who showed her sniper skills.

When Lucy came out, Raven frowned.

"What's Lucy's magic?" she asked.

"She's a Celestial Wizard," Gray answered.

"Interesting," she murmured. She had never met a Celestial wizard before, so she was curious to see what her spirits looked like.

"Me and my Celestial Spirits are gonna do a cheer for you guys," Lucy announced.

At that, the crowd went absolutely wild.

"Hm, suits her personality," Raven muttered. She, along with the rest of the crowd, waited patiently for Lucy to begin, but before she could even summon her spirits, someone interrupted her.

"Entry #8," a voice called out.

Raven tuned out Lucy's protests as someone strolled onto the stage.

"I am the very definition of 'fairy'. Not to mention the very definition of 'beauty'. I'm the only person here who embodies everything you desire, so therefore, the winner is, me!" Evergreen announced, "Now, this idiotic contest can end."

"Whoa, she's back?"

"That means Laxus must be here to."

Raven slowly stood up and put Blayze on the chair behind her, keeping her eyes locked on Lucy and Evergreen the whole time. Lucy didn't even know that she was in an extremely dangerous position.

"What the heck is going on here?" Lucy shouted, "It's my turn, so get off the stage. I really need this prize money."

"Lucy!" Gray yelled, "Don't look her in the eyes."

Evergreen smirked and lifted her glasses. "I'm sorry, what was your name?"

Everyone gasped as Lucy turned to stone.

"Hurry everyone," Max warned, "Run for your lives!"

The crowd listened and wasted no time sprinting out of the guild hall. Raven was one of the few who remained inside.

Finally, Master stepped forward. "What do you think you're doing, Evergreen? You'll ruin the Festival for everyone."

Evergreen chuckled. "On the contrary, I think things are just getting interesting."

Raven felt her blood run cold when she saw all the girls turned to stone.

"Mira?" Elfman gasped.

"She got Erza to?" Happy exclaimed.

"You fool," Master bellowed, "Turn them back this instant."

Thunder boomed overhead, and Laxus appeared on stage in a flash of lightning.

"Looks like all of your fans went home," he laughed. "Which is a pity because the party is about to start."

"I should have known," Master muttered.

 _Yes, you should have_ , Raven thought irritably. She had warned Master several times that Laxus was becoming cruel and power-hungry, but did he ever listen to her? No. He kept excusing it simply because he didn't want to believe it. And now look where it had gotten them. She eyed the room carefully and saw that Freed and Bixlow were also there.

"I've had about enough of this, Laxus. Turn them back or else," Master threatened.

"You better play nice if you want these ladies to join the parade," Laxus warned. Lightning crackled, and a bolt shot down next to Lucy.

Raven's jaw clenched when he casually placed his arm around Lucy.

"In other words," he continued, "I'm taking them hostage. Break the rules, and I'll shatter them one by one. Or I could just smash them all right now."

"Do that," Raven warned, "And I'll kill you myself."

Laxus glanced warily at her. He knew that if anyone could take him on, it was her.

"I'm not amused, Laxus," Master cut in. "Stop fooling around."

"Oh, I'm serious, old man."

Freed stepped up. "I've always wondered who's the strongest in the guild. Now, it's time to find out."

"Yea, let's have some fun," Bixlow said.

Laxus grinned. "There's only one rule. Whoever is left standing in the end is the winner. It's the ultimate Fairy Tail battle!"

Someone's fist slammed against a table. "Nice and simple, that's just how I like it. I'm fired up now."

"Natsu," Master warned.

"This is a festival right? So let's party," Natsu said.

And with that, he leaped at Laxus with a flaming fist.

Raven shook her head as lightning struck Natsu before he could even land his punch. He fell to the ground with a loud thump.

 _What an idiot_ , she thought.

Evergreen spoke up. "Naturally, if you want me to turn the girls back, you'll have to defeat us. You have three hours and not a second more. After that, these pretty statues will be turned to dust."

Laxus continued. "All of Magnolia will serve as the battlefield. The battle will begin when and if you can find us."

"Laxus, how could you?" Master started to grow. "I won't stand for this!"

"Now, now, simmer down, old man. It's all part of the Festival right?" Laxus began to grow so bright they all had to turn away. "Let the Battle of Fairy Tail begin!"

As the light dimmed, Raven opened her eyes only to see that the Thunder Legion was gone.

Everyone started shouting at once and sprinted out of the guild hall. Not wanting to waste any time running, she decided to shadow travel. It was one of the fastest ways of traveling. It's speed was equal to that of Laxus's speed of light. All she had to do was step into any shadow. She would go inside of it, and once there, she could appear out of a shadow anywhere within a reasonable distance.

She grabbed Blayze, and hugging him close to her body, she stepped into a shadow. Not a second later, it spit her out and sent her and Blayze flying across the room. Her back hit the wall behind her, and she fell to the ground, trying to get her breath.

"What the hell?" she groaned, struggling to sit up.

Blayze lay next to her rubbing his head. "Why did it throw us out?"

She glanced around the room just in time to see Gramps run into an invisible wall.

Scowling, she grabbed his paw and pulled him up with her. He wobbled on her shoulder and wrapped his tail around her neck for balance. After listening to Gramps' conversation with Gray, she knew what was wrong.

"Freed placed an enchantment around the building," she explained, "And for some reason, it's preventing me from leaving."

She started to make her way to Gramps and watched as Natsu rammed into the barrier also. Everyone sweatdropped at the sight.

"Don't tell me you're over 80!" Gramps exclaimed.

"I don't think so," Natsu said, still struggling to get out.

Raven stopped beside Gramps. Once he saw her, he let out a relieved sigh.

"Raven, thank the heavens," he said, "I'm afraid you're the only one here capable of defeating Laxus. I need you to find him and take him out, immediately."

She crossed her arms and sighed. "I would be out there already if I could."

"What do you mean?" Happy asked.

"I tried shadow traveling, but it didn't work. It just spit me back out. Whatever enchantment Freed placed is keeping me locked in," she said.

"What?!" Natsu exclaimed, "You're over 80 years old?"

A vein ticked on her forehead. "Do I look that old to you, idiot?"

"Enough," Gramps cut in, "Raven, you're positive you can't get out?"

Reluctantly, she nodded.

He sighed. "Then, it would appear we'll just have to hope that the others can stop Laxus."

"They won't," she said as the wall showed that Alzack beat Jet and Droy, "They're too busy fighting each other."

She turned away, disgusted. At this rate, they would never save the girls.

 _Laxus, you coward_ , she thought angrily, _When I get out of here, I'll make you pay for what you've done._

* * *

 **This chapter only needed some grammar fixes, so I just cleaned it up a bit. But I promise the next couple chapters will have some plot important changes, so stick with me.**

 **Until next time:)**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Edited: 11/9/16**_

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, all I own are my OCs**

* * *

Raven leaned against the wall near Master, Natsu, and Happy, and tried to block them out. All they were doing was reading off who beat who, and that wasn't helping at all. What they needed was for everyone to stop fighting each other and go right to the source: Laxus. But they couldn't do that because of Freed's damn enchantments. The only person who could try to remove them was Levy, but that wouldn't happen anytime soon. They were stuck. The fighting wouldn't stop until there was no one left, and she and Natsu were useless while in the guild.

 _Laxus, you coward_ , she thought, clenching her fists, _You knew Natsu and I could beat you, so you locked us in here. What the hell are you after?_

She was broken out of her thoughts when Natsu rammed into the invisible wall. "It's not fair," he cried, "I want to fight to!"

They all sweatdropped.

"Is that all?" Happy and Master yelled.

Raven pushed off the wall and smacked him upside the head. "This isn't a damn game, Natsu," she growled. "They aren't fighting each other for fun."

Natsu groaned, rubbing his head, "But-"

"She's right, Natsu," Master interrupted, "This is just a trap. Laxus is playing you like a bunch of pawns. I know they're trying to save the girls, but they're going about it the wrong way. If we keep fighting amongst ourselves, we're finished. We can't let Laxus win."

"Come on, Gramps," Natsu cut in, "You don't seriously think he'd hurt them, do you? I know he can be a pain sometimes, but he's still one of us. This is obviously a bluff."

Raven crossed her arms, frowning. _He has too much faith in people sometimes. He refuses to believe that Laxus would hurt the girls, but I know for a fact that he would. After all, look what he's done already. He's pitted everyone against each other, he's disrespected Gramps, and worst of all, he's betrayed his guild, his family._

She started slightly when a projection of Laxus appeared in front of them. "I'm just bluffing am I? You sure about that? Natsu, what are you doing hiding in here, you scared?"

"I'm not scared," he argued, "I'm stuck."

Laxus turned his gaze to her. "And Raven, you too much of a coward to come face me?"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Take down these enchantments, and I'll gladly kick your ass."

"Laxus," Master cut in. "What do you want?"

Laxus grinned. "How does it feel? You think of the guild as your children, right? Must be hard watching your little kids tear each other apart. It's too bad Natsu, Erza, and Raven can't join the game, because you don't have anyone strong enough to take on the Thunder Legion. You ready to surrender?"

"No, it's not over!" Happy exclaimed. "Gray is still out there, and he's just as strong as Natsu!"

"Gray," Laxus scoffed, "You're gonna put all your hope on that loser?"

"Don't underestimate him, Laxus," Raven warned. "His magic is strong. He could take you guys down."

Just then, the wall showed new results. "Well, would you look at that?" Laxus chuckled. "He's down and now only 28 remain. And that chump was gonna save you? So who's gonna beat the Thunder Legion now, Old Man?"

"Gajeel will," Happy said.

Raven blinked. She had forgotten all about him. He definitely would stand a chance against Laxus...however. Raven frowned. Seeing as both she and Natsu were stuck in here, chances were that it would be no different for Gajeel.

"Enough," Gramps said quietly, "It isn't worth it. I surrender, alright?"

"Gramps," she murmured, brows furrowed.

"Wait a sec!" Natsu shouted.

"You've had your fun," Master continued, "Now stop this."

"What's gotten into you? I thought you were the master of the almighty Fairy Tail," Laxus mocked, "You can't just give up at the drop of a hat. But if you insist on quitting, then by all means, hand the guild over to me and take an early retirement."

Raven took a step forward, fists clenched. "That's what all of this is about? You hurt the guild, threatened the girls, and betrayed us for that? There's no way in hell you'll ever get that title. You've made it clear that you don't deserve it."

He raised a brow, cocky as ever. "But that's where you're wrong, Raven. I will get the title because there's only a hour and a half before the stone statues crumble." He flicked his gaze to Master. "If you really wish to end this, announce over the loudspeaker that you're stepping down and giving the title to me. What means more to you, your children or your title? Choose carefully."

"You're asking for it," Natsu leapt towards Laxus just as he disappeared.

"It was never the title I valued," Master muttered. "But I can't give up. Laxus may be strong, but he's not trustworthy. I'd never leave him in charge. He has neither the conviction nor the heart to run a guild."

"We have to hurry, otherwise the girls will be turned to dust," Happy said. "There has to be someone who can take on Laxus and his pals."

There was some rustling behind the counter before Gajeel popped up.

Natsu's jaw dropped. "No way, you were here this whole time?"

Raven looked at Natsu out of the corner of her eye. "You seriously didn't hear him eating back there?"

"Gajeel," Master started, "Will you fight for the guild?"

He hopped over the counter and made his way toward them. "Might as well. I've got a score to settle with that guy. Don't worry, I'll handle it."

Raven let out a sigh and watched silently as Gajeel rammed into the barrier. She shook her head, "I knew it."

The board changed again. "Only three left in the guild?" Master exclaimed, then was silent for a moment, "No, don't tell me...you're the only ones left?!"

Raven sighed. _How the hell are we supposed to fight if we're stuck in here?_

"I've got no choice," Natsu said. "Guess I'll bring Erza back."

They all sweatdropped.

"Do what?"

"Huh?"

"What are you talking about?"

Natsu ignored them. "This sucks. I thought I was finally gonna be able to show her up."

"Now, hold on a second," Master shouted. "What are you about to do?"

"I'm gonna use fire to melt the stone off," he explained.

"What!"

"That's actually not a bad idea," she murmured.

Natsu laughed. "See, Gramps? Even Raven agrees with me."

Master turned his wide eyes to her. "Don't encourage him!"

She rolled her eyes. "At this point, Gramps, we need to do something. And if it works, then Erza can get out there and save everyone's asses."

"And if it doesn't work?"

She shrugged. "Then I'll beat up Natsu for her."

"Wait, what?" Natsu cried.

"Would you just get on with it, Natsu?"

With a toothy grin, he knelt next to Erza and put his flaming fists over her. "It's toasty time!"

"Be careful!"

"Yeah," Gajeel muttered. "No joke, watch where you put those hands."

They all jumped when a crack appeared on her face. Raven ignored their panicked shouts and watched as the stone broke off, revealing Erza.

Raven let out a relieved sigh, "Thank God."

"I feel hot," Erza murmured before a shadow crossed over her face. "It was you wasn't it?"

Raven stepped aside as Erza kicked Natsu across the room. "Were you trying to cook me?!"

Master looked just as relieved as Raven. "Thank goodness, but how was the spell broken?"

Erza raised a hand to her face. "I'm not quite sure, but if I had to guess, I'd say it had something to do with my right eye."

"Do we need to explain what's going on?" Raven asked.

"No," Erza replied, "Despite being stone, I could still hear what was going on." She locked eyes with Raven and scowled, "And I heard you agree with Natsu's idiotic plan."

Raven simply raised a brow and smirked, not intimidated at all. "It worked didn't it?"

"Alright," Master cut in, grinning, "It's time to strike back."

"Look," Happy pointed at the board, "There's four now. Wait a minute, now it went up to five."

"Who could that be?"

Erza chuckled. "Aren't you guys forgetting someone? Someone who's frequently out of town?"

Raven thought for a moment and then smirked, locking eyes with Erza. "Mystogen."

* * *

With a few parting words, Erza took off. Raven watched her go and felt her frustration grow. This wasn't right. She should be out there with Erza helping to protect the guild, not sitting in here completely and utterly useless. She hating sitting around while others fought the battle for them. She continued to pace, clenching and unclenching her fists. She needed to fight. If she stayed in here much longer, she was going to go crazy.

 _I'm a damn S-Class mage, how can I not get passed a stupid enchantment? Freed is strong, yes, but I'm stronger. I should be able to break the barrier, dammit._

She paused in her pacing and furrowed her brows. _Now that I think about it, I haven't actually tried to break through. I stopped after the shadow threw me out. Maybe if I went back in, I could break it._

Without giving it a second thought, she stepped into a shadow until she disappeared completely, but instead of trying to emerge somewhere else, she stayed in the shadow. She fought against the initial wave of magic that threatened to throw her out and stepped forward. Carefully, she felt all around and realized that a barrier surrounded her like a cage. Being in the darkness, she felt her magic power increase, and she knew that if she was going to get out of the guild, this was the place to do it.

"Well, it's now or never," she murmured.

She pulled back her fist as a black mist covered it.

"Shadow Dragon's Iron Fist!"

She swung and felt her hand connect with the barrier. After a second, she heard a quiet cracking. Squinting, she saw tiny cracks appear where she hit it.

She frowned. "Looks like I'm gonna need something stronger."

She placed her palm against the barrier and closed her eyes.

"Shadow Dragon Atomic Bomb."

A strong pulse radiated from her hand and the power behind it forced the cracked wall to shatter completely.

Raven smirked and opened her eyes when she felt the sudden freedom. The barrier in the shadow was gone. She was free to leave. The smirk fell from her face though when she remembered that Blayze was supposed to come back to the guild any moment with information on Laxus' location. If he came back to find her gone, he would be pissed. But she had to go, the girls didn't have much time left. With that thought in mind, she delved deeper into the shadows.

She had to pay Laxus a visit.

* * *

 **Once again, there weren't any major changes in this one, sorry about that. The next one will have some significant changes though.**

 **Until next time:)**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Edited: 11/10/16**_

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, all I own are my OCs**

* * *

Blayze arrived back at the guild tired and disappointed. He had flown all over Magnolia searching for Laxus and found nothing. He let his wings disappear with a light 'pop' and landed lightly on the ground in front of Makarov, Natsu, Gajeel, and Happy. He frowned slightly when he saw that Raven wasn't with them but quickly shrugged it off. Knowing her, she had probably isolated herself somewhere.

"So, what'd you find?" Natsu asked impatiently.

Blayze's shoulders drooped, and he let out a sigh. "I didn't find anything. I looked all over, but I couldn't find where Laxus is at. I'm sorry."

Makarov smiled gently. "That's okay, Blayze. Even if you had found something, it's not like we could do anything about it. Not as long as we're locked in here. But thank you for trying."

Blayze nodded. "Of course. I'll go tell Raven."

He stepped away from them and scanned the first floor, surprised that she wasn't there. After all, she almost never spent time on the second floor. Blayze sprouted his wings and flew upstairs. Landing lightly on the railing, he looked all around and frowned when he didn't see her.

 _Where else could she be? These are the only places she can go._

Slowly, he floated back to the first floor and stood a moment, thinking. There was no where else she could be, so where was she? It's not like she could leave the guild...or could she?

 _No,_ he thought, _Natsu and the others are still here, so she has to be here also. Unless she had found a way out. But why would she not tell the others?_

Starting to get a bad feeling, Blayze hurried over to the others.

"Where is Raven at?" he asked quickly.

They all looked at him in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Happy questioned.

"I looked on the first and second floor, and she's not on either of them," he explained.

"That can't be," Makarov murmured. "She has to be here somewhere. Natsu, Gajeel, can either of you catch her scent?"

After a few seconds of sniffing around, the two dragon slayers turned to Master, confusion all over their faces.

"Her scent isn't here," Natsu said.

"Yeah, I can't smell her either," Gajeel confirmed.

Makarov's brows furrowed. "So she got out? But how?"

"Wait!" Natsu yelled. "She left us behind? That's not fair. I want to fight to!"

"Look!" Happy gasped, pointing at the board.

Everyone turned, and their eyes widened at what they saw.

Happy read it out loud. "Another person has entered the battle: Raven!"

"No way, she really did get out?" Gajeel muttered.

"That's not fair!" Natsu cried.

Makarov felt a surge of hope. With Erza fighting Evergreen and Raven out there to find Laxus, the girls would be saved in no time. He had no doubt that Erza would win her battle, and as for Raven...it would be a hard fight, but he believed that if she really concentrated, she could beat him.

 _Raven is so much stronger than she knows. She has incredible power that when used correctly, could be unbeatable. She just has to keep her emotions in check,_ he thought frowning. _Because if she doesn't..._

Makarov turned to Blayze and spoke quietly to him. "Blayze, I need you to go find Raven and watch her. Make sure she stays in control."

Blayze nodded gravely and took off.

Makarov stood quietly and watched him leave.

 _She must be careful. Because if she lets her anger grow too strong,_ he thought grimly, _this fight will turn into a bloodbath._

* * *

Raven walked through the streets of Magnolia with her eyes and ears peeled for anything that could lead her to Laxus. She had yet to pick up his scent, so she was forced to wander the streets until she was able to hear or smell him. So far, this tactic was proving to be useless and slow.

 _I suppose I could shadow travel throughout Magnolia. That would definitely be faster,_ she thought then shook her head, _No, I need to be at full strength when I find him._

She wasn't so naive as to believe that fighting Laxus would be easy. No, this was going to be an extremely difficult fight. After all, Laxus wasn't made S-Class for nothing. He was an incredibly strong mage, and she would never even think of underestimating him. However, she wasn't going to underestimate herself either. She was confident in her abilities and was proud to admit that she was S-Class. She knew what she was capable of, and she knew that she could beat Laxus if she set her mind to it. And right now, with the anger she felt toward him...Well he was in for one hell of a fight.

Her head jerked to the left when she heard a piercing scream cut through the air. Stopping in her tracks, she tilted her head and smirked when she recognized the scents to be Evergreen and Erza. All the sudden, the screaming stopped, and she heard a loud 'smack'. Her smirk grew when she heard what they were saying.

"If you're going to threaten someone, do it properly," Erza advised.

"Alright," came Evergreen's pained voice, "I'll turn the girls back."

Raven closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. "Way to go, Erza."

 _Now, time to find Laxus._

With the girls now safe, she didn't have to worry about them anymore. Taking off at a sprint, she opened up her senses and focused on Laxus. The only problem with putting all of her attention on him was that she didn't realize what was ahead of her until it was too late.

'WHAM!' Raven fell back on her butt and groaned, rubbing her forehead.

"What the hell?" she muttered. Opening her eyes slightly, she saw a large barrier in front of her. She sat frozen for a minute, eyes wide, before bouncing back to her feet. Spinning in a circle, she saw that the barrier had formed a cage around her, even the top was sealed off, so she couldn't hop over.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," she scowled.

According to the barrier in the guild, the reason everyone was fighting each other was because they had gotten trapped in an enchantment, similar to the one she was in now.

 _Alright, so if I'm trapped in here, then where the hell is the person I'm supposed to fight?_

After a few moments of consideration, her face dropped.

"Wait a minute," she grumbled. "I don't get an opponent?!"

 _Damn you, Freed,_ she thought angrily, _How am I supposed to get out of this now?_

She ran a hand down her face in exasperation. Of course. Of course she would end up in the one enchantment that was made simply to keep someone in. She started pacing around and ran her hand through her hair.

"Think," she muttered, "What can you do to get out of here? You broke out of the guild's barrier, you can do the same here."

 _No,_ she argued with herself, _You broke through that because you were in the shadow. You were at your strongest then._

"Then, I can do the same here."

 _Look around, idiot. There's no shadows here._

"Argh! Dammit, dammit, dammit," she growled.

Her pacing stopped when she heard crackling. Scanning the sky, she saw balls of contained lightning surrounding all of Magnolia.

"Thunder Palace," she breathed.

Her nails bit into the palm of her hand, drawing blood. Her whole frame shook as her face darkened, and her violet eyes sparkled with fury.

"Laxus," she ground out through clenched teeth. "What have you done, you sick son of a bitch?"

She placed one bloody hand against the barrier. "Shadow Dragon Atomic Bomb."

The barrier exploded into a thousand pieces, and within a second, Raven stepped into a shadow and disappeared.

* * *

Raven shot through the streets, bouncing from shadow to shadow. She had finally locked onto Laxus' scent. Now, it was only a matter of time before she arrived at the Cathedral.

She came to a screeching halt at the sound of a agonizing scream. Looking up, she saw someone falling from the sky with lightning crackling all around them.

"Juvia," she murmured, watching as the water mage disappeared from sight.

The anger that had been coursing through her turned into a cold fury at the sight of her fallen comrade. She knew Laxus was cruel, and she knew that her friends were getting hurt because of it. But seeing just how far he was willing to go and hearing the pained screams made her realize just how cruel Laxus had become.

Her magic raged inside of her. She could feel it building up to a dangerous rate and with it came another presence. She could feel _her_ on the edge of her mind, waiting for an opening, and Raven tried to suppress her magic, feeling a spark of panic when she couldn't.

Black mist erupted from the ground beneath Raven and shot high above her. It surrounded her, rippling like angry ocean waves. She felt the immense power surging through her and threw all of her focus into blocking her mind against _her_.

Sweat dripped down her face as her body trembled. Her breathing turned shallow as fear crashed through her. If she didn't get control of her magic, then the presence in her mind would break through eventually, but she couldn't take her focus off blocking her mind long enough to do that. She was stuck.

 _It's going to happen again. It's going to happen again. It's going to happen again._

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shove down the panic when she felt a wave of someone else's magic energy rush through her. Her eyes snapped open as she felt the strange magic mixing with her own. It was like nothing she felt before. It was dark, raw power, and that's when she realized who it belonged to.

Mira.

Raven stumbled and grabbed her head. The power...it was too much. She had already lost control of her own, and Mira's only made it worse. Because instead of passing by like it would anyone else, it had collided with her own. Raven's darkness had felt Mira's and consumed it, making itself ten times stronger.

She fell to one knee, clutching her head. She was paralyzed. The dark mist around her thickened and resembled black flames. A surge of power shot through her, and the mist erupted into the air, high above the buildings.

And that was all the presence in her mind needed to break through.

 _ **Don't fight it, Raven.**_

Lilith.

Her eyes clenched shut, and her teeth ground together. "No," she hissed, "Go away, just leave me alone."

 _ **Now, now, no need to get angry,**_ Lilith purred, _**I'm just trying to help you.**_

"I don't want your help. I don't need it," she ground out.

 _ **If you hope to defeat Laxus, yes you do. Sure you would do okay on your own, you could even hold your own against him. But you can't defeat him, not without me. And do you really want him to win? The man who hurt your friends, your family?**_

Raven could feel Lilith grin.

 _ **Remember how well we did last time?**_

She bit her lip hard and felt her fangs pierce the skin. "I don't need you," she argued. "The love I have for my family will give me the strength I need."

 _ **Love?**_ Lilith scoffed, _**Love is nothing. It will get you nowhere. Are you really going to rely on love to defeat the person who is destroying your friends and pitting them against each other? Your friends are scattered around the city hurt and defeated while the person who caused it all stands unharmed. Are you going to let him get away with that?**_

Raven knelt there, eyes closed, and paralyzed with fear. She didn't know what to do. She wanted nothing more than to go after Laxus and make him pay for putting them all through this. But she couldn't do that until she had Lilith under control.

She let out a long breath, blocking out everything around her and putting all of her focus on Lilith.

"You're wrong," she murmured, slowly standing up. "Love isn't nothing. It's what gets us through the darkest times in our lives. It gives us the strength we need to push on. It's the most powerful magic there is. Love is everything. And in Fairy Tail, we have nothing _but_ love."

As she said this, she concentrated on pushing Lilith's presence out of her mind. It was a struggle, but after a minute, she felt Lilith slip away, and Raven put up a barrier, keeping her out.

Letting out a deep breath, she unclenched her hands and opened her eyes. Lilith was gone for now. She did it. She ran a shaky hand over her face and tried to pull herself together.

The combined force of her magic and Mira's still flowed all around her, but now she had control. Only a few blocks from the Cathedral, she could hear fighting going on inside. Sniffing, she caught the scents of Laxus, Gajeel, and Natsu. Just as she was about to move, she heard a voice in her head, but this time it was a welcome one.

"Everyone in Fairy Tail, please lend me your strength as well."

Her brows furrowed. "Erza?"

 _Did I really just hear her? Why would she be asking for strength, what does she need it for? She must be in trouble. I want to help her, but...what about Laxus?_

She was torn. She wanted so badly to rush into the Cathedral and fight him, but she couldn't ignore Erza's plea for help.

She sighed. _Natsu, Gajeel, I'm leaving Laxus to you. Make us proud and kick his ass._

With one last glance, she turned and sprinted away from the Cathedral, toward Erza. She caught her scent easily and using the shadows, got to her in no time.

Raven could hear her mumbling. "Hundred ninety-eight, hundred ninety-nine, that's still not nearly enough."

Just as Erza starting to fall, Raven dashed over and caught her.

Erza looked at her in surprise. "Raven? What are you doing here?"

Raven helped her stand upright before answering. "I heard you ask for help. What was I supposed to do, ignore you?"

Erza smiled, and Raven gave a toothy smirk. "So what's the plan, Scarlet?"

Before she could answer, a voice started talking in their heads.

"Hey, Fairy Tail! Can you hear me?"

Raven and Erza looked at each other. "Warren?"

"Things aren't looking to good for us. Check out what's floating in the sky," he said. "We're gonna have to pull together, so get off your butts and lend us a hand."

Raven listened as he explained to everyone what was happening.

"Wait, how did you hear about the Thunder Palace, Warren?" Erza asked.

"I've never been happier to hear your voice. I was worried about you," another voice said.

"Gray?" Raven questioned.

"Raven, is that you? I'm glad you're okay too," he said.

Erza smiled. "I see. You're the one that told Warren, weren't you?"

"Yeah, would've happened sooner, but I had to track the guy down," he explained.

Before they could establish a plan, everyone started shouting at each other and accusing each other, and Raven was growing frustrated.

Lucy's voice cut through the the yelling. "Enough! We shouldn't be wasting our time arguing. The citizens of Magnolia are in danger, and we're the only ones who can help them. So we're gonna have to work together. I know things have been rough having to fight against each other, but we can do anything if we pull together, that's what you guys have taught me. I know that I'm fairly new to Fairy Tail, but I promise you, I love being a part of this guild, just as much as the rest of you. Now that I've joined, it means everything to me. If you feel the same way, let's work together and save our town!"

Raven couldn't help but grin when she finished her speech. She didn't know the girl at all, but she had just earned Raven's respect.

Her fangs gleamed as she spoke. "Basically, what she's saying is shut the hell up, get off your lazy asses, and get to work, Fairy Tail."

Erza chuckled at her choice of words.

"I'll take the 200 to the north," Erza called out.

"And I've got the 200 to the west," Raven informed.

Erza nodded. "Everyone else, take care of the rest. We can do this!"

Raven let her magic flow around her freely and raised her hands to the sky. Hundreds of small black spheres appeared high in the air.

"Shadow Dragon Bomb!"

Raven watched in awe as everyone's attacks sped into the air and destroyed all the lacrimas.

"We saved the town," Erza smiled.

Raven sighed. "And now comes the hard part."

Lightning crackled around her for a second before unleashing its power. As it struck, she gave a cry of pain. The power of the 200 lacrimas was so intense, it felt like she was on fire from the inside out. After a few seconds, it stopped, and she dropped to ground, trying to get her breath. Her whole body ached, and she could smell the smoke coming off of her.

When Erza asked if everyone was okay, all she could do was give an answering groan. She had always hated lightning. She rolled onto her side, facing Erza.

"We did good, didn't we?" she murmured.

Erza gave a pained chuckle. "Yeah, Raven, we did good."

Raven gave her a small smile.

 _I knew it. This guild's love for each other really is the most powerful magic._

* * *

 **This was the chapter that I had needed to change the most, and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I hope the whole 'presence in her mind' made sense and wasn't confusing. Just to clarify, regular italics are Raven's thoughts, and bold italics are Lilith's voice. It'll be that way in future chapters to.**

 **Until next time:)**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Edited: 11/10/16**_

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, all I own are my OCs**

* * *

"Raven!" a voice called out.

Cracking one eye open, Raven saw Blayze hovering above her, arms crossed and eyes sparkling in frustration.

Opening both eyes, she smirked. "There you are. I was beginning to think you forgot about me."

A vein ticked on his forehead. " _I_ forgot about _you_?! _You're_ the one that left the guild without telling me! I've been searching all over Magnolia for you! And what were you thinking taking on that many lacrimas? You could have been seriously injured-"

Raven was only half listening to Blayze rant as she gazed at the sky.

 _I could've sworn I saw something,_ she thought. _There!_

Lightning and fire crackled in the sky, attacking each other with renewed strength. She felt a spark of irritation at the sight. They had already fought each other before Laxus' failed attempt at Fairy Law, and now they were fighting again. Honestly, this was taking too long.

Sighing, she pushed herself up and cut Blayze off. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut this temper tantrum short."

Blayze's jaw dropped as he sputtered.

"This annoying little fight of theirs is taking too long. It's time for it to end. Natsu is strong, but Laxus is gonna end up killing him if it goes any longer," she said.

"Raven," Erza called, "Be careful. I know you're strong, but Laxus isn't himself right now. He won't hesitate to try and kill you to."

Raven grinned, showing her fangs. "Don't worry about me, Erza. I'm just gonna knock some sense into the idiotic brat."

Glancing at Blayze, she smirked, "Race you."

And with that, she disappeared into a shadow, leaving behind one very exasperated exceed.

* * *

Natsu dug his fist into the ground, trying to catch his breath. Laxus' last attack had hurt like hell, but he couldn't give up. He had to keep fighting no matter what.

Slowly, he climbed to his feet and stood, swaying.

"That was your last chance, kid," Laxus growled, lightning crackling around him. "Now I'm gonna obliterate you. Lightning Dragon Heavenward Halberd!"

A blast of immensely powerful lightning came hurtling toward him. He could hear Levy and Freed's terrified shouts and closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact.

 _Boom!_

When the blast made contact, it sounded as if a bomb had gone off. Through the smoky haze surrounding him, Natsu opened his eyes and stared in shock at the sight.

Raven stood only a few feet in front of him, one hand outstretched before her and a hard, black shell-like shield protecting them. His eyes widened when he noticed that Laxus' attack hadn't even scratched it.

"Raven," he whispered hoarsely.

She didn't look at him, but he could hear the smirk in her voice. "Looked like you could use some help."

"I had it handled," he huffed, then groaned as a wave of pain washed over him.

Letting her shield drop, she turned, and her eyes hardened at the sight of his beaten up form.

"Sit down, Natsu," she murmured, "Let me take it from here."

"No," he groaned, "I can finish him."

She locked eyes with him. "Natsu, you fought well. Not just anyone can hold their own against Laxus, but it's time to back down. Don't worry. I'll beat his ass."

He grinned. "You better."

* * *

As the dust and smoke settled, Laxus finally saw what had happened. His eyes became wide as saucers when he saw Raven standing in front of Natsu, piercing him with a glare worthy of Erza.

"It's time you get some sense knocked into you," she hissed. "I will not allow you to hurt anyone else in this guild."

Before he could prepare himself, she was in front of him, shadows surrounding her like a mist.

"Shadow Dragon Iron Fist!"

The breath was knocked out of him as he flew into a wall.

He started to stand, but once again, she was in front of him, moving too fast for him to react. Grabbing onto his arm, she launched him into the air, then jumped so she was above him.

"Shadow Dragon Wing Attack!"

He plummeted down and gasped as he crashed onto the roof. Pain flared through his back, and he could only watch as she landed lightly on the roof, raising one hand toward him. A small, black sphere formed in the palm of her hand. He stiffened, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

"Shadow Dragon Bomb."

The sphere struck him in the chest, sending him flying through the roof and into the cathedral.

Raven hopped through the hole and landed silently beside the crater that Laxus was lying in. As she took in his unconscious form, she couldn't help but feel a stab of pity for him. He had a home and family in Fairy Tail, and he had just thrown it all away. She knew the consequence for attacking the guild would be severe. Even after everything he had done to them, she was still going to miss him. She couldn't help but remember the feisty young boy she had grown up with.

 _When did he become so lost?_ she thought sadly.

Slowly, she turned away from him and slipped out of the cathedral.

* * *

Raven lie stretched out on a bench with her hands behind her head and feet propped up on the arm rest. Blayze was curled up on her stomach, sound asleep. She had the appearance of extreme relaxation, but inside, her gut was twisting uncomfortably.

Laxus had just been expelled.

She had expected it. She knew that that was the only consequence he deserved. But hearing it happen hurt. She had listened in on his and Gramp's conversation and was now regretting it. She couldn't stop hearing the pain in Gramp's voice, and the regret in Laxus'. She could only hope that Laxus would become a better person after all of this. Maybe some time away from the guild would be good for him.

She was broken out of her thoughts by a voice calling her name. Cracking her eyes open, she saw Erza standing at the top of the stairs.

"What is it now?" she muttered.

"It's time to get ready for the Fantasia Parade," Erza announced.

Raven just stared back blankly. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you're participating in it this year. It's time for you to be on the float with us," Erza replied.

Raven snorted. "That's not going to happen."

Erza's eyes hardened. "Yes, it is. You're going to be on the float this year, Raven, even if I have to drag you there myself."

"Why do you suddenly want me there?" she asked curiously.

"Because you need to stop taking everything so seriously and stop worrying. It's time you come out with us and enjoy yourself," Erza explained.

Raven's eyes narrowed. "I do not worry-"

"Then what are you doing up here?" Erza questioned, crossing her arms, "I know you're not relaxing. You're worrying about Gramps and Laxus."

"I am not," she huffed, rolling her eyes.

Erza's brow rose. "I know you well enough to know when you're lying. Now, stop stalling and come with me. All of us girls are gonna go to Fairy Hills to get ready together."

Raven's eyes turned to slits. "I am not wearing a dress," she warned.

* * *

Raven and the girls strolled through the streets of Magnolia, making their way to the float. They had gotten there early in order to see all of the vendors. The first stop they had made was at Dream Bean Coffee Shop, so Raven could get her coffee. Then, an hour later, they stopped there again. And then the hour after that. Just as Raven was about to suggest stopping again for her fourth cup, Erza said it was time to get to the float.

So now, here Raven was, coffeeless and grumpy. Blayze, who was resting on her shoulder, chuckled at her sour expression; where as, the girls stayed a few feet away. The cause of her grumpiness was her current outfit. Even though Raven had argued relentlessly that she wasn't going to wear a dress, somehow she ended up in one. Since Erza knew that Raven didn't own any dresses, she had taken it upon herself to buy one for her. Once she had put it on, all of the girls agreed that the Victorian style dress suited her perfectly.

It consisted of a black waistcoat vest that flowed down to her knees in the back, but the front of it opened up to reveal a ruffly white skirt. The vest was cinched tightly around her torso, showing off her hourglass figure. It had small straps, so her ruby red Fairy Tail emblem showed proudly on her collarbone. The dress was paired with black, ankle lace-up platform boots. Her only accessory was her dragon's breath opal pendant. Her hair had been styled by Levy. She had a braided crown atop her head while the rest of her hair lay in soft waves down her back.

Raven, grudgingly, admitted to herself that the outfit was gorgeous; however, that didn't mean she wanted to wear it. But, it was too late to change it now, so she would just have to suck it up and have fun.

In just a few minutes, they reached the float, where most of the guild was already waiting. Raven climbed on and took a spot in the middle next to Erza.

As the parade started, and the float made its way through the streets, Raven created shadow animals. Soon, lions, wolves, horses, and all sorts of creatures were streaking through the sky and mingling in the crowd. The longer the parade went on, the more Raven enjoyed herself. She could see the appeal of the Fantasia Parade. Showing off her magic, surrounded by her family, she couldn't have been any happier.

When she noticed Gramps raise his hand in the air and point to the sky, she and the rest of Fairy Tail followed suit.

Blayze, on her shoulder, turned his head toward her and grinned through teary eyes.

"I'm glad we're home, Raven," he said.

She smiled back and said softly, "Me too, Blayze. There's no place I'd rather be."

* * *

 **Not much was changed in this chapter, just some minor details.**

 **Until next time:)**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Edited: 11/10/16_**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, all I own are my OCs**

* * *

Raven strolled through the streets of Magnolia with Blayze on her shoulder and a cup of coffee in her hand. It had been a week since the showdown with Laxus, and things were starting to get back to normal. It was still odd with him gone, but the guild was moving on, as it should. Laxus had made mistakes, and now he had to deal with the consequences. But who knew, maybe one day Gramps would let him back in.

Blayze's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "So, when are we gonna take another job?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Thanks to the last one, we have enough money for the next few weeks. So really, we can just go when we feel like it. But since we've been gone for so long, I thought it'd be nice to take a small break."

He nodded. "A break sounds nice, and if we get bored we could just take a regular job. We don't have to take S-Class jobs all the time. That way we can make some extra money and not be gone for long."

Her heart stuttered a bit. "That sounds like a plan."

She took a sip of coffee and shook off the nerves. Since her encounter with Lilith last week, she'd been on edge. Her presence was constant now. She was always there on the edge of her mind. Every time Raven used her magic, she was reminded of the now fragile barrier in her mind. Even though she knew that Lilith couldn't break through unless in the presence of dark magic, she still worried. She could only stay away from jobs for so long.

Of course, she told Blayze none of this. He didn't even know that she had lost control at the Harvest Festival, and she was going to keep it that way. He was already worried enough after what happened on their last job. She wasn't going to add to it. And she knew that if she told him, he would make her tell everything to Gramps, and she wasn't ready to do that.

Not yet.

* * *

A few minutes later, they arrived at the guild. Raven paused outside the doors and frowned at the commotion coming from inside. The yelling and fighting were nothing new, but it seemed even louder than usual.

Curious, she opened the doors and stepped inside only to have a camera shoved in her face. She jerked back, causing Blayze to fall off her shoulder with a cry of surprise. She blinked a few times and finally caught sight of the man behind the camera. He was pretty tall with sandy brown hair, and he was shouting excitedly...at her.

"This is so cool! It's Nyx, in the flesh, the Goddess of the Night," he exclaimed.

She frowned at the nickname that the tabloids had given her. She never showed her face or gave her name when it came to the media, so they had had no choice but to make up their own name for her based on her magic. Of course, they didn't know she was a dragon slayer. All they knew was that she "dabbled in darkness". Their words.

The guy was still going on. "Tell me, how long have you been gone? Was your mission successful? What is it like being one of the strongest members of the guild?"

It all started to piece together. The camera, the questions, and the fact that Mira had said that someone from Sorcerer Weekly was stopping by sometime this week.

 _If I had known it was today, I wouldn't have shown up,_ she thought grumpily.

It was then that she realized that she wasn't wearing her hood, so there was nothing covering her face. And he had taken pictures.

 _Shit._

Panic rushed through her before she shoved it down.

Her hand shot out and covered the camera lens as he lifted it up. At the dark look on her face, he stopped mid sentence.

"I don't recall giving you permission to take my picture, so you are going to delete every single picture of me," she growled. "And if any pictures of me show up in that magazine, I will find you and make you wish you had listened to me the first time. Got it?"

Shaking in his boots, he nodded.

With one last glare, she strode away from him, and Blayze landed lightly on her shoulder.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked.

"He had pictures of me," she said.

He sighed, "Yes, but did you have to be so rude about it?"

"Cool!" the guy shouted suddenly, "I just got threatened by Nyx, herself! Just when I thought this day couldn't get any better!"

She glanced at Blayze. "He doesn't seem to care."

"That's because he's weird," he frowned.

She snorted, "You got that right."

She walked over to the bar and took a seat next to Lucy.

"What can I get you, Raven?" Mira asked, smiling.

"Coffee, please," she said.

"Coming right up!"

Blayze moved onto the counter next to her and stretched out.

She glanced to her right at Lucy. "What's with the gloomy face?"

Lucy looked surprised for a second, then answered. "It's that reporter. He hasn't asked me a single question."

She raised a brow. "You want to be in the magazine?"

"Of course!" Lucy exclaimed. "It could start my modeling career, and then I'd actually have enough money to pay my rent. But no, it's like I'm invisible no matter what I do. He even interviewed _Happy_!"

She thanked Mira for the coffee then looked back at Lucy. "So you're not famous. Get over it," she said dismissively.

Lucy gaped at her. "That's easy for you to say. You're famous, and you don't even care!"

"That's because it's pointless," she said, sipping her coffee. "All being famous does is get your face plastered everywhere, and people want to stick their noses in your business. It's rather annoying really."

Lucy's head banged against the table. "It isn't fair," she whined. "Why do you get to be famous when you don't want to be? Shouldn't the new girl that's fought side by side with Erza Scarlet on several big jobs get at least a little attention?"

She smirked, "Relax, Lucy, you'll get there one day."

"Raven," a voice called.

She glanced up and saw Gramps standing at the railing upstairs.

"Come to my office for a moment," he said, then turned around.

Frowning, she got up from her seat.

"What do you think that's about?" Blayze asked.

"Don't know," she said, "But I'll let you know when I'm out."

She made her way up the stairs and walked into his office.

"Close the door behind you," he said, sitting behind his desk.

She did as he said and took a seat. "What's going on?"

"I noticed that you haven't taken another job yet," he stated.

Her brows furrowed. "Yea, I thought we would take a break since we're good on money for a while."

"Since when do you take breaks?" he asked skeptically. "You're constantly on the move, taking one job after another."

"Since Blayze and I were gone for so long, we agreed it'd be good to take some time off," she said. "Relax for a bit."

He was silent for a moment. "How have you been feeling lately?" he asked abruptly.

Her breath caught in her throat. "I've been good," she pushed out. "Why?"

"I just remembered that I haven't asked you since you got back. I wanted to make sure that you're okay," he said.

"Trust me, I'm fine," she replied.

"You're sure?" he pressed.

She flashed a grin. "Yes, Gramps, I'm sure. You know that I'd tell you the second something was wrong."

He sighed. "I know, and I'm sorry. I was just worried since you hadn't taken a job. I thought maybe something had happened," he shook his head. "But never mind, you can go."

She smiled and stepped out of his office, closing the door behind her.

The smile slipped off her face, and she took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart, then continued down the stairs. Her gut twisted painfully for having lied to him, but she just couldn't bring herself to tell him. And anyways, it didn't matter. She was fine now.

 _There's nothing to worry about._

* * *

Raven fought the urge to smack the men in front of her. Yes, they were being incredibly irritating but punching customers wouldn't exactly be considered good service.

Teeth grinding, she continued to listen to them debate over what to order. They had been at it for almost 10 minutes, and her patience was running low. Especially since they couldn't seem to go two seconds without glancing at her chest. The stupid waitress outfit revealed far too much skin for her liking.

A vein ticked on her forehead when the man to the right looked at her chest _again._

Slamming a hand on the table, she shouted angrily, "Would you two order already? If you want to stare at someone's chest like perverts, ask for one of the other waitresses!"

The men just stared at her, gaping, so she spun around and strode over to the counter.

Natsu stopped in front of her. "You know, Raven, you really shouldn't yell at the customers like that. It's bad service."

Her face darkened. "And you shouldn't be eating their food," she said, smacking him on the head, causing his tray to go flying.

As Natsu tried to catch the airborne food, Lucy leaned on the counter next to her. "Remind me again why we're doing this awful job?"

Raven glowered, "We're doing this for you, blondie. You're the one always complaining that you don't have enough money for rent."

"I know, but when I said I wanted to go on a job, this was not what I had in mind," she complained.

Blayze walked over to them, carrying dishes. "I don't think this is what any of us had in mind."

"What's going on over there?" Gray asked.

They all looked where he was pointing to and sweatdropped.

Erza was leaning over a table full of men, putting on her best flirty face.

"Well, that's one way of doing it, I guess," Lucy said.

"She's embarrassing herself," Raven said flatly.

"Cheer up, Raven," Natsu said, slinging an arm over her shoulders. "It's not everyday you get to do an easy job like this. And it's your first job as a member of Team Natsu!"

She glanced at him. "As what?"

He blinked, "You're officially a member of our team. Didn't Erza tell you?"

She raised a brow. "No, she never mentioned that."

"We all agreed that since you're gonna be back at the guild for a while, you should join a team," Gray explained.

"And what better team than ours?" Natsu said, grinning.

She smirked, "I guess it could be fun. Blayze?"

"I'd say it's about time we join a team," he said, eyes twinkling.

"Hey!" Erza barked, "Get back to work!"

As they all separated, Raven grabbed Lucy's arm.

"You take my tables," she said, shoving menus in the stunned girl's arms, "I'll do dishes."

And so, for the rest of the day, Raven washed hundreds of dishes in blessed silence.

* * *

The next day, Raven and the rest of the guild stood in front of a chart listing all the dark guilds.

"So what's this all about?" Lucy asked, from her place next to Raven.

"They've been noticeably more active as of late," Mira said. "So we need to strengthen our relationships with other guilds."

Raven listened, somewhat disinterestedly, as they explained the alliance of the dark guilds. She already knew most of the information that they were talking about, including the powerful members of Oracion Seis. She only looked up when Gramps stepped into the guild hall.

"Speaking of the Oracion Seis," he said, "Word has come down. We must destroy them."

"What?!" everyone gasped.

"Finally," Raven muttered.

Erza stepped forward. "But, Master, what do you mean by that?"

"The Oracion Seis was much of what was discussed at the meeting," he explained. "They pose an urgent threat that can no longer be ignored. Therefore, they must be dealt with immediately. We will take them down before they harm anymore guilds we are sworn to protect."

"Fairy Tail will be taking them on by ourselves?" Juvia asked.

Gramps shook his head. "This enemy is more powerful than any we have faced before. To fight them alone would be too dangerous. Which is why, Fairy Tail will be joining a magical coalition of guilds. Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and Cait Shelter. These four guilds will select members to represent them in the Allied Force. Together, we will work to bring down the enemy!"

"Whoa," Lucy exclaimed, "Hold on a second guys. We are just talking about six members, aren't we? I mean, are they seriously all that scary?"

Raven grinned, fangs flashing, "It's said that each member is powerful enough to take down a guild all on their own."

Blayze looked up at her. "You shouldn't be excited about that."

She just looked at him, eyes gleaming. Despite her recent worries, she couldn't help but get a thrill at the thought of fighting them. The six members and their supposed power had always intrigued her.

"So, Master, who are we sending to represent Fairy Tail?" Levy asked.

"After thinking about it, I have decided to send, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Erza, and Raven," he said. "I trust that you five will be able to get along well with the other guilds and get the job done."

 _Well, this will certainly be interesting,_ she thought excitedly.

* * *

 **Alright, this was the last one to be edited. I'm gonna try and get a new chapter up as soon as possible. I'm super excited about the Oracion Seis Arc, it's definitely one of my favorites.**

 **Until next time:)**


	7. Authors Note

**Hey! This is just a quick update to let you all know that all the chapters have been edited and are up now for you to read!**

 **I hope you enjoy them and notice the differences.**

 **Until next time:)**


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I **don't own Fairy Tail, all I own are my OCs**

* * *

Raven grimaced as the carriage plodded along the dirt road, each bump causing an unpleasant twinge in her stomach. The longer they traveled, the more her breakfast threatened to show itself. Things like carriages didn't usually get to her this badly, but the long, bumpy road was causing a back and forth motion that was not agreeing with her.

As the wheels hit a rather large bump, her stomach churned, and she lifted Blayze from his spot on her lap and put him beside her. She felt his questioning gaze on her as her back slid down the wall until she was lying on the wooden floor.

"I need to get off this damn thing," she grumbled, closing her eyes.

Erza, who was sitting next to her, spoke up. "It shouldn't be too much longer. I imagine we're almost there."

"I know I've said this before," Lucy cut in, "But I have a really bad feeling about this mission."

"You've only mentioned that about twenty times," Raven muttered, clutching her stomach.

Lucy ignored her. "And why am I even here? I'm not all that strong! It's not like I'm gonna be able to help you guys anyway."

Raven opened her eyes halfway to glare at her. She was starting to get sick of Lucy constantly putting herself down and saying how weak she was. Granted, she had yet to see the blonde fight, so she didn't know how powerful she was. But, there was no doubt in her mind that Lucy was a strong mage. She had to be to be on this team and to have Gramps send her on such dangerous missions with the group.

"Look, this ain't a picnic for me either," Gray said, "So quit your complaining."

"We're here for one reason," Erza stated, looking at all of them, "Master put his faith in us, so let's not disappoint him."

Lucy sighed. "I know. You're right, but Gajeel and Juvia are better fighters. Why didn't he pick them?"

"They can't go because Master sent them on a separate mission," Blayze said. "But even if they had been available, I don't think Master would have chosen them. He has a reason for choosing us all for this specific mission."

Raven closed her eyes. "Yeah, so untwist your panties and get used to it. You're stuck here with us whether you like it or not."

Lucy sputtered, but before she could get a word out, Natsu groaned.

"I don't care," he mumbled, face green. "I just want to get there."

Raven couldn't agree more with the pinkette.

Lucy shook her head. "It just seems like we're always picked for this stuff."

"You should consider it an honor," Erza said solemnly, "And today will be our first joint operation with the allied guilds. It's very important that we all start on making a positive rapport."

"There it is!" Happy cried, pointing ahead. "The rendezvous spot."

* * *

A few minutes later, the carriage came to a stop, and Raven wasted no time climbing out. The second her feet touched solid ground, she let out a sigh of relief. Almost immediately, her stomach settled down, and the nauseousness went away.

Blayze landed on her shoulder and shook his head. "And you call Natsu pathetic for having such bad motion sickness."

A vein ticked on her forehead. "Shut up! At least I'm not completely useless like he is."

"Hey!" Natsu shouted, "I am not useless!"

She ignored him and walked up to the building with the others. Erza slowly opened up the doors, revealing a dark, slightly musty smelling room.

"Great," Lucy muttered. "Another creepy mansion."

"It's the second home of Blue Pegasus' Master, Bob," Erza explained.

"That explains the creepiness," Raven mumbled.

Blayze's tail whacked her in the face.

"Be nice," he scolded.

She scowled at him.

"He... makes me feel funny," Gray said, clearly having flashbacks.

Erza gave a strained smile. "He may be a little eccentric, but he does deserve our utmost respect."

Natsu groaned from his spot on the floor. "Just tell me when we're there guys."

Raven gave Blayze a pointed look. "See, I'm not _that_ bad."

Blayze nodded, frowning. "Yeah, he does look pretty pathetic, doesn't he?"

"Yes, they're here at last!"

Raven glanced to the side at the unknown voice.

"Hey, hey, hey Fairy... Tail.. Wizards!"

She sweatdropped slightly at the sight of the three male wizards in front of them.

"We are," said one.

"The Blue Pegasus," said the next.

"Elite Crew," said the third.

"And we are...The Trimens," they finished together.

"Hundred Night Hibiki."

"Holy Night Eve."

"Still Night Ren."

"The Trimens from Blue Pegasus?" Lucy said, blushing, "Wow, that is so cool!"

Raven rolled her eyes as Lucy gushed about them. Though she had never met The Trimens, she had always disliked them. From whatever she saw of them in magazines, they acted more like spoiled models than powerful wizards. And it would seem she was right.

They quickly converged around Erza and dragged her over to a sofa, complementing her the whole time.

Lucy moved next to Raven, looking slightly put out.

"Jeez, what's with these guys?" Lucy muttered.

"Please, have a seat." Ren suddenly appeared behind Lucy, putting a hand on her waist. "Oh my, you're almost too cute."

Raven watched as as he pulled Lucy onto the couch next to Erza. She couldn't believe that these were the people that they had to work with.

"This has to be a joke, right?" Blayze asked, sweatdropping.

She frowned. "Unfortunately, I think they're always like this."

Suddenly, an arm wrapped around her waist, and she found herself pressed up against Hibiki.

Natsu and Gray's mouths dropped.

Blayze raised a hand. "Uh, I wouldn't-"

"There's no need to be shy," Hibiki murmured, completely ignoring Blayze. "Why don't you come join us? You're much too beautiful to be standing here all alo-AGH!"

Raven yanked his arm behind his back, feeling his muscles strain at the sudden movement.

"Touch me again," she growled, face dark and shadows rippling around her, "And I'll rip your arm off. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, yes, I understand!" he cried.

She shoved him aside, and Hibiki crawled away as fast as he could.

The sound of a muffled laugh came from behind her.

She whipped around to see Gray, Natsu, and Happy with hands over their mouths, and faces red from holding back laughter.

Noticing her murderous gaze resting on them, the laughter stopped, and they paled.

"You have something to say?!" she barked.

"No, ma'am!" they all shouted.

"That's what I thought," she muttered, turning back around.

"You're not going to scold me?" she asked, looking at Blayze out of the corner of her eye.

He blinked. "No, I'm actually quite proud of you. You showed a lot of restraint."

She scowled. "It's only because Gramps told us to get along with them. If we weren't allies, they'd all be dead."

"And to think, this is only Blue Pegasus," Blayze said. "I can't even imagine how it'll be when the other guild members arrive."

"Nothing can be worse than these three."

"Calm down, men," a voice rang out from the staircase. "Give these ladies some breathing room."

"Yes, Ichiya, sir," Ren said.

At that name, Raven looked over at Erza and saw the redhead pale.

"Him? Oh no," Erza muttered.

"It's been far too long, Miss Scarlet," Ichiya said.

A massive grin made its way onto Raven's face.

"Oh, this day just got a whole lot better," she said to Blayze.

"You should have some sympathy," Blayze murmured, "Just look at her. The poor girl's terrified."

Indeed, she was. Raven just watched, thoroughly amused, as Ichiya made his way to the shaking form of Erza.

"It would seem that destiny has brought us together," he said. "Miss Erza, Miss Lucy, Miss Raven... you two not so much."

"He's creeping me out," Lucy said.

"Yes, I never choose to be in his company, but he is a gifted wizard," Erza said reluctantly.

Raven sidled up to her. "Just imagine how powerful your children will be."

Erza swung a fist at Raven, which she quickly dodged.

"Shut your mouth this instant!" Erza shouted angrily.

Raven chuckled, stepping out of the way of another punch.

"Now, Erza, is that any way to act in front of our allies? You're being completely unprofessional," she said straightfaced.

Erza's face turned bright red. Letting out a frustrated yell, she spun away from Raven.

"Are you sure it's a such a good idea to get her all worked up like that?" Lucy asked, though she herself was struggling not to laugh at the flustered redhead.

"No," Raven shrugged, making Blayze wobble, "But it's rare to see her like this, so I enjoy it while I can."

"Fight? Well count me in!" Natsu shouted, finally breaking out of his sick stupor.

Raven blinked, seeing Gray and Natsu about to go head to head with Hibiki, Ren, and Eve. She had clearly missed something here.

"Everybody needs to calm down this instant," Erza said, but quickly contradicted herself by punching Ichiya clear across the room. "You stay far away from me!"

"Nice right hook," Lucy exclaimed.

"She's starting to lose it," Blayze muttered.

Raven nodded her agreement.

As they all watched, Ichiya's flying form was stopped by a hand coated in ice.

"You dare to greet us with this flying buffoon?" the newcomer said, who Raven recognized to be Lyon, Gray's childhood rival. "Lamia Scale deserves more respect."

He threw Ichiya toward them, causing them all to duck out of the way.

"What is wrong with you?" Gray said angrily.

"He's the one who attacked me," Lyon said.

"Attacked is a strong word," Raven muttered.

She watched silently as another other Lamia Scale member, Sherry, stepped into the building. Within a few minutes, everyone was squared off, preparing to fight.

"Jeez," she said, "Does everyone in here have beef with each other?"

"It would seem that way," Blayze said nervously.

Before anyone could attack, a voice cut through the room.

"Enough! We're here to work together as a group to take down the Oracion Seis. This is not the time to fight amongst ourselves."

Raven's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I know that voice."

"Yes, Jura," Lyon said.

"That's Jura?" Erza said, shocked.

"So, that's him."

"Lamia Scale's top man."

"Iron Rock Jura."

"He's one of the ten Wizard Saints," Happy said.

"Yea, so he's kind of a big deal," Lucy said in awe.

Shadows erupted around Raven. "Jura," she growled.

Blayze's eyes widened in alarm. "Wait, Raven, don't-"

She jumped toward the Wizard Saint with a shadow encased fist.

"Shadow Dragon Iron Fist!"

Her punch landed square on Jura's cheek, the force of it sending him flying into the wall.

Everyone's jaw dropped at the sight.

Raven ignored them, her eyes zeroed in on Jura, who was picking himself up off the ground.

"Who dares-?"

He stared at Raven with wide eyes for a second before they narrowed angrily.

"You!" he shouted.

As the two wizards stared each other down, everyone else came to the same conclusion.

"You two know each other?!"

* * *

 **I had so much fun writing this chapter! I know it's short and pretty much all dialogue, but I just wanted this chapter to be all about the interactions with the other guilds. I hope you guys enjoyed it!**

 **Until next time:)**


	9. Chapter 8

**Before we get started, I just wanted to say thank you to all my new followers, and a huge thank you to XxAceLawxX for your review! Your little re-write of the Raven/Jura scene made me laugh so hard, it was _perfect_**. **It literally made my day, so thank you!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, all I own are my OCs**

* * *

 _"You two know each other?!"_

Lucy couldn't believe what she was seeing. How the heck could Raven possibly know a Wizard Saint? And know him well enough to have a grudge? It didn't make any sense, yet here they were, glaring daggers at each other, seconds away from fighting.

Everyone around Lucy was gaping at the scene before them. No one had expected that kind of a reaction from Raven... except maybe Blayze. He was floating in the air, shoulders drooped with a resigned look on his face as if he had given up on trying to control his partner.

Lucy had thought that for the most part Raven was a pretty calm and laid back person, but now...

 _She's insane,_ Lucy realized.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy saw Erza step toward the two slowly, a look of extreme caution on her face. Lucy didn't blame her. She couldn't even imagine the destruction that would come from a fight between a Wizard Saint and a S-Class Wizard, both fueled with rage.

It would be catastrophic.

"Alright, you both need to get a hold of yourselves and calm down," Erza said firmly, still inching her way forward. "I think everyone here just needs to take a breather and focus on the task at hand. We have much more important things to worry about than our own petty arguments. So, why don't you both step away from each other, and we'll all move forward with our mission."

It was a good speech, Lucy thought. And it could have worked, if only it hadn't fallen on deaf ears.

Jura shifted his stance, preparing to defend the inevitable attack, and Raven's magic blazed about her person wildly as her arm pulled back.

Lucy tensed and saw Blayze's paws covering his eyes as if he couldn't bear to watch.

Just as Raven was about to lunge forward, someone sprinted into the guild and, not looking where they were going, crashed right into Raven.

Everyone sweatdropped, watching as Raven's magic snuffed out as the two fell to the ground with a loud thud.

* * *

Raven groaned trying to lift onto her elbows, but quickly realizing she couldn't because of the weight on her back.

She had no idea what happened. One second, she was preparing to fight Jura, and the next, something was ramming into her side. From the deathly silence filling the room, she could only guess that everyone else was just as shocked as she was.

Hearing a light groan from above her, Raven turned her head to see a flash of blue hair as the young girl lifted her head. Dark brown eyes collided with purple ones, and the girl's jaw dropped, just now realizing that she was sprawled out on top of someone.

Her face crimson, the girl sprung to her feet and quickly offered her hand to Raven.

"I-I'm sorry," the girl stammered, "I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm so sorry."

Raven rolled onto her back and took the girl's hand, who hastily pulled her up.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked, still looking petrified. "I'm so sorry if I hurt you-"

"I'm fine," Raven said softly, trying to ease the girl's nerves. "You have no reason to worry. It's my fault really. I should have been paying better attention, rather than getting caught up in an argument."

Blayze's jaw dropped. "Now you're being rational?!"

Her head whipped around, glaring at the orange exceed. "Shut up! Can't you see I'm trying to make the poor girl feel comfortable here?!"

She turned back to the young girl, who looked completely baffled by Raven's sudden change in behavior.

"I'm Raven," she said calmly. "And you are?"

The girl blinked. "Oh, my name is Wendy Marvell. I'm from Cait Shelter. It's nice to meet all of you."

Raven could feel everyone's shock at her words. After all, Cait Shelter was only sending one mage, and this was not what they were expecting.

"A girl."

"She's a kid?"

"She's not...handsome."

"Nor is she a man, why should it matter?"

"Now then, since all guilds are present, we can begin," Jura said, having regained his usual calm composure.

Raven scowled at the man, feeling her anger rise whenever he talked, and took a deep breath.

 _Now's not the time,_ she told herself.

"What in the world was Cait Shelter thinking, sending a little girl on a mission like this?" Sherry said. "They must really be hurting for members if they sent her here all alone."

"She isn't alone."

Raven looked toward the entrance and blinked.

A white exceed was walking toward them and stopped at Wendy's side.

"You shouldn't jump to conclusions, gaudy trollop," the exceed said.

Raven tuned out everyone as she stared at Wendy and her exceed. She had been so surprised by Wendy's entrance that she hadn't taken in the girl's scent.

Her eyes narrowed. _Could she possibly be... a Dragon Slayer?_

She had to be. While Wendy's scent was vastly different from Natsu's or Gajeel's, there was something about it that was similar.

She smiled slightly. _Who would have thought that we'd come across another Dragon Slayer here?_

She glanced behind her to see Natsu staring at Wendy with a confused look on his face. He hadn't figured it out yet.

Feeling a weight on her shoulder, she turned her head and saw Blayze staring at Carla with wide eyes.

"Is Wendy..." he trailed off, looking at Raven.

"I think so," she murmured back.

"Sorry," Wendy started quietly, "I'm probably not what you expected. I know I'm much smaller and younger than most of you. And I may not be much of a fighter, but I can use all kinds of support magic. So, please, let me join the group, I'd be so embarrassed if you sent me home!"

Raven smiled softly at Wendy's words. Though insecure, she clearly had a heart for helping and wanted to fight alongside them all.

Erza stepped forward, smiling. "Forgive me, I was caught off guard, but rest assured, no offense was meant. We're glad to have you aboard, Wendy."

Wendy looked up at her, blushing lightly. "Oh, wow, you're Erza, right? I can't believe it's really you!"

"You're not quite the monster I pictured," Carla said.

Raven snorted at the exceed's words, causing Erza to glare at her. The redhead clearly hadn't forgotten Raven's teasing earlier.

In the brief moment that Raven had looked away, Hibiki had made his way to Wendy, an arm snaking around her shoulders.

"Would you please come with me, lovely lady?" he asked.

"Um... okay?" Wendy said, looking flustered.

A vein ticked on her forehead. With a small motion of her hand, a shadow wrapped around Hibiki's waist and threw him into Ren and Eve.

As they crashed to the ground, Raven shouted, "What the hell is wrong with you?! Keep your hands off of her!"

All she got was an apologetic groan.

With a sigh, she walked over to a relieved Wendy.

"Thanks for that," she said, blushing slightly.

"Of course," Raven said, "If they bother you again, let me know, and I'll gladly take care of it."

Wendy smiled gratefully, and Raven couldn't help but smile back.

* * *

Blayze watched silently from his place on Raven's shoulder as she talked with Wendy. He had been shocked at first to see how Raven's attitude changed when talking with the young girl, but now he understood.

And it caused a wave of sadness to wash over him. Not for himself, but for Raven. He could see it hidden in her eyes, the old pain that she rarely ever let show.

There was something about the young girl, a certain... innocence... that was familiar.

He knew that when Raven looked at Wendy, she was reminded of someone else.

* * *

"Okay, now that all the involved parties are here," Ichiya started, causing Raven and Wendy to turn to him, "I think it's about time to get the briefing of the mission underway. Our fist order of business is to determine the location of the Oracion Seis... Right after I take a quick break."

Raven raised a brow as he waddled away.

 _I can't believe this is the group we have to work with._

* * *

"Much better," Ichiya stated a few minutes later. "Please, pay close attention. To the north lies the Worth Woodsea, where the ancients once sealed a powerful source, a magic called... Nirvana!"

Raven's brows furrowed at the name. In all of her travels, she had never heard of a magic with that name. And it was apparent from everyone else's reactions that they hadn't either.

"We don't know much about this magic other than its name," Ren said. "And that it is destructive in nature."

"And that the Oracion Seis wants it badly," Eve continued.

"Destruction magic," Natsu murmured.

Lucy frowned. "Okay, bad feeling confirmed."

A chill went down Raven's spine. If the Oracion Seis found Nirvana before they did and unleashed it... all of that dark magic released upon them...

Her head started to pound.

"We assume that's why they traveled to the Worth Woodsea," Hibiki continued. "They're desperate to get their hands on such a powerful magic."

"To prevent that from happening, we must destroy the Oracion Seis!" Ichiya said.

"We may have the advantage in numbers, but remember, we cannot underestimate them," said Eve.

"They're incredibly strong," Hibiki said. "We may very well be in over our heads."

With a quick motion of his hand, Hibiki used his Archive Magic to pull up images of the Oracion Seis.

"First up is the Snake Wizard, Cobra," he said, pointing to a picture of a maroon haired man with a large purple snake next to him.

"Next," he continued, "Is a man who, according to his name, uses speed magic. Racer."

"Such original names," she muttered to Blayze.

"I don't know what it is," Gray said, "But I don't like the looks of this guy."

"I don't either," Lyon replied.

Hibiki went on. "Then there's a wizard who's not afraid to wipe out an entire military unit if the price is right, Divine Eyes Hoteye."

"The guy kills for money?" Sherry asked.

"Turns my stomach," Jura muttered.

Next was a white haired woman dressed in a skimpy feathery dress. "She's beautiful, but just as vicious. This is Angel."

Hibiki paused. "The next member is such a mystery, all we know his name, Midnight."

"That's an odd name," Erza commented. "Does it correlate to his power?"

"More than likely," Raven said.

"And finally," Hibiki said, "The commander of the Oracion Seis, Brain. And there you have it. Alone, they can take out entire guilds. Together, they're unstoppable. We have twelve to their six, but that's our only advantage."

Lucy and Wendy started to tremble beside Raven.

"Question, can I volunteer to stay here and not die today?" Lucy asked.

Ichiya popped up next to them. "Curb your fear, my friends. There's more to our operation than mortal combat. With your help, perhaps we can find the enemy's stronghold!"

"Stronghold?" Natsu asked.

"You heard the man," Ren said. "We've looked everywhere but have had no luck."

"Here's the deal," said Eve, pointing to the screen in front of them. "They've got to have a base in the Worth Woodsea."

Ichiya continued. "And once we locate it, our plan is to gather the Oracion Seis inside."

"What's the next part of the plan?" Erza asked.

Ichiya pointed upwards dramatically, but given that they were inside, Raven had no clue what he pointing to.

"Then, we'll give them a one way ticket to oblivion, courtesy of Christina, the majestic pride of the Blue Pegasus Guild."

Sherry gasped. "I've heard about the magic bomber, but I thought it was just a myth."

"Whoa! Is that even necessary? There's only six of them!" Lucy exclaimed.

Raven glanced at the blonde. "Have you not heard a single word we've said in the past few minutes? They may be few in number, but they're all freakishly powerful."

"And that's the enemy we face!" Jura said loudly. "Remember, in under no circumstance should you engage the enemy in single combat. Our best option is to separate them, then devote two wizards to each fight."

As everyone nodded their agreement, Lucy cried, "This is a nightmare!"

"Yeah, I can't take the pressure!" Wendy said.

"Would you two stop acting like children!" Carla scolded.

"Let's go, I'm all fired up!" Natsu shouted, blowing the doors open and taking off. "Time to hunt some demons. Ready or not, here I come!"

Raven, Lucy, Erza, and Gray walked out after him and looked at the trail of dust.

"Always acting without a thought in his head," Erza sighed.

"Some days I worry about his mental health," Lucy said.

Raven shook her head. "He has no sense of self-control when it comes to a fight."

"How much you want to bet he didn't even hear the plan?" Gray said.

The other guild members walked up to them, sweatdropping.

"Overkill much?" Ren muttered.

"Yeah, no kidding," Eve said.

Hibiki sighed. "Just great. We're gonna have to fix it."

Erza turned to them and said sharply, "Enough gawking. Move!"

"Guess we're playing catch up with that dork," Gray said.

"Oh man, do we have to?" Lucy whined.

Raven grabbed the blonde's wrist and yanked her forward.

"Stop your complaining and hurry up," Raven said, dragging Lucy along most of the way as they ran.

Blayze had sprouted his wings and was flying alongside them. "We should have waited for Jura and Ichiya as well. It's smartest if we all stay together."

Raven glanced at him. "They'll catch up. Besides, the Oracion Seis doesn't know that we're here yet. By the time they figure it out, we'll all be together, and it'll turn out just fi-"

She slid to a stop and whipped around, straining her ears. She could've sworn she heard...

Noticing that Raven was no longer behind her, Erza stopped and looked at her, causing everyone else to pause as well.

"Raven," Erza called, "What's wrong? What's going on?"

Raven ignored her, head cocked and eyes narrowed, but no matter how hard she concentrated, she couldn't hear anything.

 _It could be that I just imagined it but... if I didn't..._

Finally turning around, she saw everyone staring at her with questioning eyes.

"You guys keep going," she told Erza, who blinked in shock. "I'll catch up with you in a bit. There's something I need to check on."

"What-?"

"I'll explain later," she cut in.

Erza frowned. "You can't be out there alone. Not when we don't know where the Oracion Seis is."

She waved a hand impatiently. "I'll be fine. And I won't be alone, I'll have Blayze with me."

Erza opened her mouth to protest, but Raven was already running back the way they came, leaving behind the stunned and confused group.

* * *

"Mind telling me why we're heading back to the base?" Blayze asked, carrying Raven as they flew full speed through the trees.

"I heard someone shout out, as if in pain," she murmured. "At first, I thought I imagined it, but... I don't know. I have a bad feeling."

He frowned. "You think Jura or Ichiya got hurt? But how?"

She sighed, frustrated, and her head gave a sharp twinge of pain which she ignored. "I don't know. I don't know if they're hurt or how it would happen. All I know is that if something is wrong, and I ignore it... It could be nothing, but I just need to check."

Blayze nodded understandingly, and they continued in silence until the Blue Pegasus building came into sight.

Raven scanned the area quickly and felt her heart sink when she saw Jura lying unconscious on the ground.

 _What the hell happened?_

* * *

 **Once again, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Follow, favorite, or review if you can!**

 **Until next time:)**


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, all I own are my OCs**

* * *

Blayze and Raven landed next to the fallen Wizard Saint, and Raven bent down, shaking him.

When he made no sign of waking up, she sat back on her heals and scanned the area. There didn't seem to be any sign of a fight or even a struggle.

 _He must've been caught by surprise,_ she thought, looking back down at him.

"What do you think happened?" Blayze asked, brows furrowed.

"It had to have been the Oracion Seis," she said. "And my guess is that they caught him by surprise; otherwise, there would be signs of a fight."

"And where's Ichiya?" he asked glancing around. "You don't think they took him do you?"

She waved a hand dismissively. "No, he's inside the building. From the sound of his breathing, I'd say he's unconscious to." She sighed. "I suppose we should get him inside and try and wake them up."

She grabbed one of Jura's arms and slung it over her shoulder as Blayze grabbed his other arm and sprouted his wings. Together, they dragged Jura inside, and Raven let him drop to the ground with a thud, causing Blayze to lose his grip as well.

Blayze stared at the man with wide eyes, but when he still didn't wake up, he turned his gaze to Raven.

"Was that really necessary?" he exclaimed.

She shrugged, making her way up the staircase. "He's lucky I'm helping him at all."

He rolled his eyes. "You're seriously gonna be this petty about it? It was a stupid fight!"

"I'll treat him better when he gives me back my money," she said reaching the upstairs landing and turning left into a hall.

"What are you doing?" Blayze questioned.

"Getting the creep," she called back.

* * *

Once she had retrieved an unconscious Ichiya from the bathroom and set him down next to Jura, she and Blayze stared down at them.

"We could slap them," she suggested.

He gave her a sharp look. "We are _not_ slapping them."

"I don't see you giving any ideas."

Blayze looked at them thoughtfully. "Doesn't Ichiya have some kind of healing parfum?"

She glanced at him with brows raised. "He keeps them on his person at all times. You want to search him, be my guest."

He looked sick at just the thought of it. "Maybe slapping them isn't such a bad idea."

She grinned slightly, but at the sound of someone groaning, she looked back down.

Jura was slowly opening his eyes and trying to sit up. When he saw Blayze and Raven, he blinked in confusion.

"What's going on?" Jura groaned.

She raised a brow. "That's what you should be telling us. Care to explain why we found the both of you unconscious not ten minutes after we left?"

Jura glanced beside him, just taking notice of Ichiya.

"We need to wake him up," he winced, "And get to the others quickly."

Raven kicked Ichiya's leg, causing him to blink his eyes open, before turning back to Jura, a frown on her face.

"What happened?"

As Ichiya sat up, Jura explained. "The Oracion Seis member, Angel, somehow impersonated Ichiya and got in his head, and she now knows all of our plans. She attacked me before I even realized what was happening. She was able to take me out in a matter of seconds."

"You said we need to get to the others quickly, why?" she demanded.

"Now that the Oracion Seis knows of our plans, they'll find the others quickly and dispose of them, if they haven't already," he shook his head. "They won't stand a chance. They're more powerful than we believed."

She sighed harshly. "Ichiya, use your healing parfum, quickly. We need to leave right now."

She strode out the doors and breathed in deeply, locking onto the group's scent before going to stand in the shadow of a tree.

Blayze frowned at her. "You're going to Shadow Travel?"

"We all are," she said as Jura and Ichiya jogged over to them.

"But traveling with others uses more of your power," he murmured. "You'll need to be at full strength when we face the Oracion Seis."

She shook her head. "I'll be fine. It'll barely effect me; besides, it's the only way we'll get to the group fast enough."

Jura and Ichiya stopped in front of her and before they could utter a word, she grabbed each of their wrists, yanked them forward, and disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

Only a few minutes later, they stepped out of a shadow, Jura and Ichiya stumbling forward clutching their stomachs. Shadow Traveling was a bitch if you weren't used to it.

But Raven ignored them and only spared a second to take in what was happening. The rest of their group were scattered on the ground, unable to get up as the Oracion Seis member, Brain, sent an attack straight at them.

Raven and Jura sprinted forward and called out at the same time.

"Shadow Shield!"

"Iron Rock Wall!"

With a loud boom, Brain's magic crashed into Raven and Jura's shields, and Raven winced as the pounding in her head increased. After a moment, the attack stopped, and Raven lowered her shield.

"That was awesome!" Sherry called.

"We owe you one," Hibiki said, kneeling next to Lucy.

"Yeah, thanks a million," Lucy said, sitting up. "We were almost goners."

Natsu sprang up a few feet away from Raven. "Alright, let's go get the-huh?"

Raven glanced over her shoulder and frowned. The Oracion Seis was already gone.

"They wiped the floor with us," Ren muttered.

Eve shook his head. "They're much stronger than we thought. We didn't stand a chance."

"Oh, Wendy," Carla murmured, staring at where the Oracion Seis had gone.

Raven's head snapped to the side. "What? What happened to Wendy?"

"They took her and Happy," Carla said, looking up at her.

Her brows furrowed. "Why?"

Lucy stepped up to her. "Brain called her 'Maiden of the Sky'. He acted as if they needed her for something. Happy got pulled along accidentally."

Raven took a deep breath and glanced away from them. "We'll need to move quickly. As long as Wendy is of use to them, she'll be fine. She won't be in any immediate danger until they've gotten what they want from her."

Carla's response was cut off as Jura started talking.

"According to Angel, the one who peers into minds, they know everything about our mission," he explained. "We're lucky no lives were lost."

Lucy started. "Wait a second, what about all the people inside the bomber?"

"Don't worry, pretty lady," Hibiki said. "Christina's controlled with a remote control function, so there's no need for a pilot. We were gonna climb aboard once we found their base, but, as you can see, we never got that far."

"Oh, good. That's a relief," Lucy sighed.

Lyon stepped toward Jura. "Glad to see you made it out unscathed."

"Not quite," Jura said. "In fact, I barely made it out alive."

"You're wounded?" Lyon asked, looking surprised.

Jura shook his head. "Their power terrifies me. I hate to say it, but if it weren't for Sir Ichiya's Pain Killing Parfum, I would be in utter agony right now."

Raven coughed pointedly, and Blayze rolled his eyes from his place on her shoulder.

Jura glanced at her, and Raven saw him refrain from rolling eyes too. "Also, if it weren't for Raven, we would never had made it here in time to save you all."

"Such a child," Blayze muttered.

Raven crossed her arms. "If he's going to give people credit, it's only right that he gives it to everyone that deserves it."

Blayze closed his eyes. "This is so not the time for that."

She ignored him and watched as Ichiya used his parfum on everyone. She huffed.

"What now?" Blayze questioned.

"How am I the only one who hasn't had the chance to fight the Oracion Seis?" she muttered. "It isn't fair, I've been waiting for this for days."

Blayze sweatdropped. "That's what you're thinking about?!"

She shrugged. "You asked."

She ignored him as he gaped at her and instead looked at Natsu, who said, "What do we do now? How dare those punks run off with Wendy and Happy? This sucks, we gotta go find them!"

He started running forward, but only got a few feet before Carla grabbed his scarf and yanked him backward.

As he fell to the ground, she let go. "You mustn't be reckless! You need to calm down and think this through. Though I am concerned about Wendy and that tomcat, this is not something to be taken lightly. We cannot face them again until we come up with a plan of attack."

Jura nodded. "I wholeheartedly agree, Lady Carla. The enemy is far stronger than we anticipated."

Carla looked over at the trees and paused. "But first..."

Raven glanced to where the exceed was looking and felt shock reverberate through her.

Erza was leaning against a tree, wincing heavily due to the purple venom slowly creeping up her arm.

How the hell had Raven not noticed her?

She darted over to Erza, the others following behind her.

She placed a hand on Erza's uninjured arm gently. "Erza, what happened?"

"Are you okay?" Natsu asked.

Erza cried out, and Raven's grip on her tightened.

"I'm no doctor, but it looks like the venom from her snake bite is spreading," Lucy said.

Snake bite... Raven clenched her jaw. Cobra had done this.

"I got this, men," Ichiya exclaimed, pulling out a parfum bottle. "I know what you need, honey. A little Pain Killer Parfum!"

The parfum drifted in the air toward Erza but seemed to have no effect on her.

"It looks like she's in even more pain!" Natsu said.

"What do we do?" Lucy asked worriedly.

Erza lifted her head. "I'm sorry, Lucy... I need to borrow your belt."

And with that, Erza unceremoniously tugged Lucy's belt off, causing the blonde's skirt to fall down.

Raven's brows shot up, and all the boys gaped at Lucy as she hurriedly pulled her skirt back up.

"Look away!" she shouted at the guys before spinning back to Erza. "Just what are you going to do with that?"

Erza finished tightening the belt around her injured arm and looked at them. "It's harsh, but it's the only way I can keep fighting!"

She stuck her sword in the ground and held her arm out. "Somebody cut it off."

Everyone's mouths dropped, and Raven blinked.

"At least give us some time to find an antidote!" Gray exclaimed.

"Seriously, Erza, don't be so dramatic," Raven murmured.

"I don't...have time," Erza ground out.

Lyon's hand wrapped around the sword. "Very well then. I will do it."

"Put down the sword," Gray said, blocking Lyon's path.

"Lyon, are you seriously going to do it?" Lucy asked.

"We can't lose one of our strongest when facing such a powerful foe."

"Just cut it off already before it spreads to the rest of my body," Erza shouted.

Raven stepped in front of her and glared at the redhead. "Stop acting as if the venom is an inch away from your heart. It's spreading just slow enough to give us time to find a way to heal you."

Lyon ignored everyone's protests and swung the sword down.

The sound of ice shattering caused Raven to look behind her. Gray had stopped the sword with his ice.

Raven ignored the boys argument and turned back to Erza just as she feinted. Raven's arms shot out and caught her.

"Knew that was coming," she muttered, gently laying her on the ground.

"Erza!"

"Oh no!"

"This is bad, guys," Eve said. "We've got to stop the venom from spreading or she'll die!"

"We need Wendy," Carla said calmly. "She can save your friend. This is no time for us to be bickering amongst ourselves. We need to work together to come up with a plan to rescue Wendy... and I suppose that tomcat too."

"Wait a sec," Eve said. "You're saying that girl has some kind of anti-venom magic?"

"Amazing," Ren murmured.

"Not just anti-venom," Carla said, looking proud. "She can cure fevers, relieve pain, and heal wounds."

Sherry crossed her arms. "That's crazy. Everyone knows healing spells are a Lost Magic. There's no way the kid can use them."

"Do her powers have anything to do with the whole 'Maiden of the Sky' thing?" Lucy questioned.

"Yes, of course it does," Carla said hotly. "You see, that _little girl_ is the Sky Dragon Slayer."

Everyone gasped with the exception of Raven and Blayze.

" _Sky_ Dragon Slayer, huh?" Raven muttered.

"Wait, she's a Dragon Slayer too?" Natsu exclaimed.

"I'll explain the details later," Carla said. "But, to be honest, there's not much else you need to know. Wendy is the only wizard capable of saving your friend. We need her right now. Unfortunately, the Oracion Seis feel they need her to for some unknown reason."

"In that case," Hibiki started, "We need to find and rescue Wendy, for Erza's sake."

"And Happy's too," Lucy added.

"Alright, who's with me?" Natsu shouted.

As everyone gathered to discuss the plan, Raven looked down at Erza and sighed.

"Hang in there, Erza. You'll be better in no time. I promise."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, you guys! I hope you all enjoyed it. Please follow, favorite or review if you can, it's much appreciated!**

 **Until next time:)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, all I own are my OCs**

* * *

Standing guard was much more boring than Raven remembered.

When she had offered to stay behind to watch over Erza with Lucy and Hibiki, she had envisioned herself fighting off faceless attackers while the the others rushed to rescue Wendy. Instead, all she was doing was pacing restlessly, tuning in and out of Lucy and Hibiki's conversation.

Blayze was sitting in the grass beside Erza, his paws resting on her clenched hand, but his eyes kept straying back to Raven, no doubt sensing her growing agitation.

She knew that it was a good thing that no one had stumbled across them, and that no threat had presented itself, but Raven couldn't deny that she was almost wishing one would, simply so she could release some of her energy.

It didn't help knowing that everyone else was out there fighting their way to Wendy while she was here doing nothing but wearing a path in the grass.

Every fiber of her being was telling her to go find Wendy and the Oracion Seis, but she knew she couldn't leave Erza. It wasn't that she didn't think Lucy and Hibiki could protect her. She knew they could. But she had to be here herself to guard Erza, because if she left to find Wendy, and someone attacked, harming Erza... she would never forgive herself.

"Raven?"

At the sound of her name, Raven stopped her pacing and looked questioningly at Lucy.

From her place beside Erza, Lucy said, "I know this isn't the best time, but I was wondering, if you don't mind my asking, why exactly is it that you and Jura don't get along?"

Raven blinked, not expecting the question, and thinking back on the memory, a frown settled on her face.

"About a year ago, Blayze and I took a job that involved taking out some dark wizard who was terrorizing a nearby town, but on the way there, a storm hit which slowed us down considerably. By the time we arrived in the town, we were three or four days late. The mayor, not knowing how much longer we would be, asked for help from another guild," she explained.

"Lamia Scale," Blayze said, and Lucy's eyes widened.

Crossing her arms, Raven continued. "Jura got there only a few hours before us but had already managed to locate the wizard. We found them quickly and jumped right into the fight. The wizard was strong, and he also used Earth Magic. So, a lot of Jura's attacks either didn't have much effect on him, or he was able to defend against them. While Jura was keeping him distracted, I attacked him and knocked him out."

"So, you're angry because Jura got put on the same job as you?" Lucy asked.

Raven scowled. "No, I didn't mind him showing up. What pissed me off was that damn mayor," she said shaking her head. " Blayze and I had taken the job because it paid well, and we were low on money that month. That reward was supposed to pay for that months rent and food, but as it turned out, the mayor was a huge fan of Jura, with him being a Wizard Saint, and split the reward between us."

"How much did you get?" Hibiki questioned.

"He only gave us a quarter of it," she growled. "It was _our_ job, and he gave it all to Jura! There was no way in hell I was gonna let that slide, so later that day when Jura was traveling back to Lamia Scale, I snuck up on him, knocked him out, and took the money."

Lucy and Hibiki sweatdropped.

"You stole from a Wizard Saint?!"

Raven rolled her eyes. "It wasn't stealing. I was taking back what was rightfully mine."

When they continued to gape at her, she huffed. "It's not as if he's any better."

Blayze rolled his eyes. "He was more mature and fair about it than you were."

"He was not!" she snapped. "He tracked us down, and while we were both sleeping, he took half the money!"

"Exactly," Blayze said. "Instead of taking all of it, like he could have, he only took half."

"Oh, so I should applaud him for only taking _half of my money_?" she fumed.

Lucy sweatdropped slightly as the two partners continued to bicker. She started to say something when Hibiki interrupted.

"I found Natsu," he said. "I think I can get in touch with him."

"That's great!" she exclaimed, turning to the others. "Hey, you guys..."

"Because of him we couldn't pay rent that month and had to take a job during our time off!" Raven said angrily.

"You guys," Lucy said a bit louder.

"It was his job to," Blayze argued, "He deserved some of the money."

"Hey!" Lucy shouted.

"What?!" Raven and Blayze snapped.

"Hibiki is trying to contact Natsu," she said.

Raven blinked, finally being brought back to the present and saw Blayze do the same.

"Natsu, can you hear me?" Hibiki asked.

After a few moments, they heard Natsu's voice. "Yes, Great Tree."

Raven raised a brow. "What did he say?"

"Great... what?" Hibiki said before shaking his head. "This is Hibiki of Blue Pegasus. I'm glad I could reach you, no one else has responded so far. What's your status? Have you found Wendy or the cat?"

"They're both right here," Natsu answered, causing them all to let out a sigh of relief. "Wendy's unconscious, but Happy's already awake."

"That's wonderful," Hibiki said, "Now, hang tight, I'm gonna upload..."

Raven tuned out Hibiki and stared into the forest. Her ears picked up on the sound of many people walking through the trees nearby.

"I'll be right back," she murmured to Blayze before heading in the direction of the noise.

She crept quietly through the trees, and soon came to a stop. A few feet ahead of her was a group of about thirty wizards stealthily making their way to Erza and the others. She looked them over carefully and saw their guild marks, dark green snakes wrapped around their upper arms.

Black Python, a small but well known dark guild.

 _The Oracion Seis must've hired them to try and slow us down,_ she thought.

Silently, she hurried back to the others.

"What's wrong?" Blayze asked, spotting her at once.

"There's a minor dark guild making their toward us," she said.

"What?" Lucy gasped.

"My guess is that they're working for the Oracion Seis," she explained before turning to Hibiki. "How far away is Natsu?"

"Not too far," he said, glancing at his map. "He should be here soon."

She nodded. "Good. You guys stay here and wait for him. I'll take care of the dark guild."

"I'll come with you," Blayze said.

"No, you stay here with Erza," Raven said, looking at him. "I'll be back in no time."

He frowned but nodded. "Be careful, Raven."

She grinned, fangs flashing. "Always."

* * *

Blayze watched Raven disappear into the trees with a slight frown. He normally wouldn't worry about her going out on her own, knowing she could take care of herself just fine, but with the Oracion Seis out there and all of the dark magic in the Worth Woodsea, he couldn't help the twinge of worry in his chest.

He tore his gaze from the trees as Lucy walked over to him.

"Looks like she's finally gonna get the fight she's been itching for," she said with a small smile.

He sighed. "It should take the edge off at least."

Lucy glanced at him. "She sure does love to fight, doesn't she?"

Blayze shook his head. "You have no idea."

She laughed lightly. "It must be a Dragon Slayer trait."

"It definitely is," he muttered.

Lucy hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Why is it that she stayed behind with us instead of searching for Wendy with the others? I could tell that she wanted to be out there with them."

Blayze paused, unsure of how to answer. The question was simple enough, but the answer was a little more complicated. After a moment, he decided to give the brief version. "Raven cares about everyone in the guild, obviously, but she's closer with Erza than she is with anyone else. The two of them have been close since the day they met. I know they think of each other as sisters... If it had been anyone else that got hurt, she would've gone after Wendy instead of staying behind." He shook his head. "I know that sounds bad, but it's not what I mean. It's just that with someone so close to her heart like Erza, she has to be there to protect her herself. It's not that she thinks you're incapable, believe me, it's just..."

Lucy's brows furrowed. "What?"

He took a deep breath, choosing his words carefully. "When she was younger, someone that she cared a lot about got hurt real bad, and she wasn't there to protect them. I think she still blames herself to this day for letting that happen, and ever since then, when someone she cares for is in danger or unable to protect themselves, she takes it upon herself to guard them and stay by their side, no matter what."

"Oh," Lucy said softly, "What happened to the person that got hurt? Were they okay?"

Blayze nodded. "Yes, we got them to a healer just in time."

Lucy looked at him, noticing the sadness in his eyes. "Who was it that got hurt?"

His face tightened.

"Family."

* * *

Raven laughed as another Black Python member went crashing into a tree.

"This is way too easy," she chuckled, "But, it feels good to finally be able to fight."

"Earth Make: Lance!"

She twisted her body lazily as a lance flew past her, then eyed the Earth Mage in front of her.

"That's the best you can do?" she muttered. "Pathetic."

"Shadow Dragon Wing Attack!"

As the mage flew through the trees, disappearing from view, she winced a bit.

The pounding in her head, which had gone away for a while, was back with a vengeance.

With a twitch of her hand, the last three wizards went down, and she rubbed her temple, trying to ease the pain; however, her attention was pulled away from her aching head when the ground started to shake.

"What the hell?" she murmured, glancing around.

What was causing it?

Her question was answered not a second later, when in the distance a pillar of black light shot into the sky.

Her eyes widened in horror at the sight, knowing almost instantly what it was.

"Nirvana," she breathed.

A wave Dark Magic erupted from the pillar with lightning speed.

And before Raven could even think of running, she felt the magic crash into her body, sending her stumbling back as her body went numb, and her legs gave out as the world around her went black, and the sound of something shattering filled her head.

* * *

 **Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday! And, of course, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm super excited to write the next chapter, it's at the point in the story that I've been waiting for! The next couple of chapters are gonna be awesome (in my so humble opinion) and will provide some answers for you guys regarding Lilith!**

 **Follow, favorite, or review, it's much appreciated!**

 **Until next time:)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Quick note: I made a little mistake with the names of a couple of dark guilds that I created. The dark guild that Raven took out on her 8 month long mission is called Dark Python, and the minor dark guild that she fought in the last chapter is called Black Python. I didn't realize that I made the names so similar, so, just to clarify, those are two completely different guilds. I apologize if that caused any confusion!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, all I own are my OCs**

* * *

Erza let out another pained groan as the poison moved further up her shoulder and onto her neck, and Blayze gripped her hand tighter, silently urging her to hold on just a little bit longer.

"Natsu needs to get here fast," Lucy said in a shaky voice. "We're running out of time. The poison is moving too quickly."

"He'll be here," Blayze said firmly, looking up at the blonde. "And if anyone can survive this, it's Erza. She's had plenty of close calls over the years and has always made it through unscathed. She will this time too."

Lucy sighed. "I know. It's just so hard to see her like this and not be able to help-"

Lucy's voice was drowned out by the sound of several people screaming in the distance.

Blayze and Lucy sweatdropped as the sound cut off abruptly, and a small tremor went through the earth.

"She sure is having fun, isn't she?" Lucy said.

Blayze sighed. "It definitely sounds like it."

Raven had left a while ago to take care of the dark guild that was coming their way and, from the sound of it, was drawing out the fight for as long as she could, obviously in desperate need to blow off some energy.

He shook his head at his partner's antics and was just about to ask Hibiki where Natsu was when the bushes next to them started to rustle.

He, Lucy, and Hibiki jumped in front of Erza, ready to fend off the attacker and were shocked to see Natsu stumble out of the bushes with Wendy, Carla, and Happy in his arms.

"You miss me?" Natsu asked grinning.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed, and they all sighed in relief at the sight of the dragon slayer.

"How did you do that anyway?" Natsu asked Hibiki. "All the sudden, your map popped right into my head."

"I'll explain it to you later. Is Wendy alright?" Hibiki questioned.

"She's fine," Natsu said, setting the three unconscious forms on the ground before grabbing Wendy's shoulders and shaking her around. "It's time to wake up, kid! I saved you, now you gotta save Erza!"

"Don't be so rough with her!" Lucy cried.

"There's more gentle ways to wake someone up!" Blayze shouted.

Despite their protests, Natsu continued to shake her, and after a moment, Wendy's eyes fluttered open. As she took in her surroundings, she suddenly shrieked and scooted backwards hastily, before clutching her head.

"I had to do it! I'm sorry!" she cried.

Blayze blinked in confusion and saw Lucy do the same.

 _What on earth is she talking about? What did she do?_ Blayze wondered.

Apparently, Natsu knew what she meant and, after a moment of consideration, bowed his head.

"I'm willing to overlook that right now," he said, startling Wendy. "Erza was bitten by a poisonous snake. She's in bad shape. Please, save her!"

"She's hurt?" Wendy murmured, finally taking in Erza's unconscious form.

Hibiki spoke up. "We need Erza to defeat the Oracion Seis. Without her, we don't stand a chance."

"Please, Wendy! We need her more than ever," Lucy pleaded.

"We're begging you," Blayze murmured.

Wendy stared at them with wide eyes before nodding firmly. "Yeah, I'll try to save her. No, I _will_!"

They all watched silently as Wendy knelt next to Erza and placed her hands over the poison. Soft blue magic surrounded her hands, and Blayze felt a wave of relief wash over him as the poison started to disappear from Erza's body.

After a few minutes, it was gone completely, and Wendy turned to them with a small smile.

"Well, that should do it," she said. "I got rid of all the venom. Now, all we have to do is wait."

"Wait?!" they exclaimed before turning to stare at Erza, willing her to be okay. A few moments later, her eyebrow twitched, and they all cheered.

"She's okay!" Natsu exclaimed.

Lucy started crying and yanked Blayze into a hug, her tight grip cutting of his air supply.

"Lucy," he gasped, "I can't breathe."

Her response was to squeeze him tighter, his words having gone right over her head. Black dots were starting to dance across his vision when Wendy spoke up again.

"She probably won't wake up for a while, but she'll be back to normal when she does," she said softly.

At her words, Lucy finally let Blayze go, and he fell to the ground, gasping for air.

"We'll strike back when she wakes up. There's no need to worry, okay?" Hibiki said.

Once he could breathe properly again, Blayze stood up and looked at Lucy when she shouted, "Yeah, watch out Oracion Seis!"

"Aye!" Happy cheered. "We're not gonna let you get Nirvana!"

No sooner had the words come out of his mouth when a pillar of magic shot into the sky, releasing a wave of energy that caused them all to stumble back.

"What is that?" Lucy yelled.

Black tendrils burst out of the pillar and curled into the air around it.

"A giant pillar of black light," Wendy said.

"It's been unsealed," Hibiki said, the shock evident in his voice. "That's Nirvana."

"Seriously?" Lucy asked. "But, how did the Oracion Seis beat us to it?"

"That pillar of light. I know Jellal is there," Natsu muttered angrily.

Blayze's eyes widened, and he stared at Natsu in shock. "Jellal?"

Instead of answering, Natsu took off at a sprint and disappeared into the forest.

"Wait!" Lucy shouted after him. "Don't just take off without telling us what's happening!"

"What does Jellal have to do with any of this?" Blayze asked, brows furrowed. "Why is he even here?"

Happy stepped forward. "I can explain later. Right now, we need to go find him."

Carla shrieked, bringing their attention to her. "Erza is missing! I swear, where are her manners? She didn't even thank Wendy for saving her life."

"Uh oh, do you think she heard us mention Jellal's name?" Happy asked.

Before anyone could answer, Hibiki held out a hand to summon his magic and struck Wendy. She went flying backwards, and Blayze turned to Hibiki.

"What's wrong with you?!" Blayze shouted angrily.

"How dare you strike a little girl?!" Carla yelled.

Without looking at them, Hibiki picked Wendy up and put her on his back before gesturing for them to follow him. As they took off at a run, Hibiki explained himself.

"I'm sorry if I scared you. She'll be fine. I just knocked her unconscious," he said.

"But, why did you do it?" Lucy questioned. "And, why are we suddenly in a hurry?"

"We have to catch up with Natsu and Erza, just keep running until we reach the light."

"Why should we take orders from a brute like you?" Carla snapped. "I realize Wendy can be a bit of a whiner, but that's no reason for you to strike her!"

"I did it because I had to," he said, slowing to a stop. "I haven't been completely honest with you. I know more about Nirvana than I let on."

Blayze frowned. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because of the nature of the magic, I couldn't say a word. Even just mentioning it now is risky and could put us in danger," he paused, "That's why Guild Master Bob only told me about it."

"So, what did he tell you?" Lucy asked quietly.

Hibiki took a deep breath. "Nirvana is a terrifying magic like no other. It alone has the ability to turn light into darkness."

A chill went down Blayze's spine at those words, and he sucked in a deep breath, realizing that in all of the chaos, he had forgotten about someone.

Raven.

His eyes searched the area around them, as if expecting her to appear out of a shadow, and, when she didn't, dread settled in his stomach. After finishing her fight and seeing that they were gone, she would have set out after them with no problem. She should have caught up to them a while ago.

 _So where is she?_

He was shaken out of his thoughts as Hibiki continued. "It will switch anyone wavering between light and dark to the opposite alignment. In other words, a good guy who's feeling down and out, will likely fall to the dark side."

Fear hit Blayze like a bullet, and he sprouted his wings, turning away from the group.

"Hey, where are you going?" Happy asked.

He glanced back at them. "I have to find Raven. If she hasn't caught up to us by now, something must be wrong. We'll meet up with you guys later."

"Be careful," Lucy said.

"You too," he said before taking off into the trees to search for his partner.

* * *

Exhaustion weighed down on Blayze like a bag of bricks.

He had been flying non-stop for the past hour, and _still_ there was no sign of Raven. He had gone to where she had been fighting the dark guild first, but, other than a bunch of beat up, unconscious dark wizards, there had been nothing to indicate where Raven had gone. But, that didn't come as a surprise to him because in his gut he knew that it wasn't Raven that had walked away from the battle sight. It was _her_.

Lilith.

Blayze didn't doubt for a second that Lilith had gained control. Raven was strong when it came to holding Lilith off and keeping her at bay, but she didn't stand a chance when surrounded by this much dark magic.

For reasons unknown to them, Lilith was at her strongest when in the presence of dark magic, and when Nirvana had been unleashed, an unreal amount of dark magic had crashed over them to the point where he could almost _feel_ the dark energy covering the forest like a heavy blanket.

And because of that, Lilith was now wandering around the Worth Woodsea, doing who knows what.

Blayze just prayed that she hadn't come across any other mages, because if she did...

He squeezed his eyes shut at the onslaught of memories.

* * *

 _"Raven, stop!" Blayze screamed desperately as she fired attack after attack at Dark Python's Guild Master. The man's body was littered with gashes and bruises, but the worst of it was the burns. The whole left side of his body was a mess of blood and melted skin, and smoke was coming off of the places where his clothes had melted and fused with his skin._

 _How the man was still conscious, he didn't know, but what Blayze_ did _know was that if Raven didn't stop now, she would kill him. And he couldn't let that happen. Raven would never come back from that._

 _Blinding blue fire encased her fist, and Blayze knew with absolute certainty that this hit would be the killing blow._

 _And as Raven brought her fist down, Blayze didn't hesitate to throw himself in front of the beaten Guild Master._

 _Black eyes clashed with violet and blue ones, but Blayze didn't even glance at her right eye, which was the same vibrant blue as the fire, but instead, he focused on her left one, which was still the same deep purple that he knew so well._

 _"Raven, please," he pleaded, tears dripping down his ash covered face, "Please, you're stronger than this. You're stronger than her. You can fight this, I know you can! Please, Raven... don't let her do this."_

 _Raven's hand slowly lowered as the fire sputtered out, and the blue in her eye disappeared, revealing horror struck violet eyes._

* * *

Screaming brought Blayze back to the present with a jerk, and he shook his head violently to get rid of the memory before scanning the area to see where the noise had come from.

His mouth dropped when he saw Lucy and Natsu plummet down the side of a waterfall. Without thinking, Blayze used Max Speed and flew over to them like a bullet. Lucy was clinging onto Natsu, so Blayze used both paws to grab onto her shirt. Groaning at the weight of two people, he used the last of his strength to fly them over to dry ground and let them drop with a soft thud onto the dirt.

He landed next to them and immediately laid down, trying to catch his breath. Carrying two people while using Max Speed was much harder than he imagined, so he closed his eyes and let himself relax.

After a few minutes, the sound of footsteps caught his attention, and he jumped up to stand in front of Natsu and Lucy. The girl before him was unfamiliar, and he tensed, waiting for an attack.

But, instead of attacking them, the pink haired girl tilted her head to the side and stared at him.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she said, catching him off guard. "I'm simply here to assist my master."

Blayze sweatdropped. "Huh?"

The girl's gaze slid to Lucy's unconscious form, and he blinked in realization.

"You're one of Lucy's Celestial Spirits?"

"Yes, my name is Virgo," she answered before stepping around Blayze and kneeling next to Lucy and holding out her hands. A moment later, the air around Lucy glowed with Virgo's magic, and when it faded, Lucy's tattered outfit had been replaced with clothes from the Celestial World. Virgo then did the same thing with Natsu and stood up.

Blayze and Virgo waited in silence for the two mages to wake up, and they didn't have to wait long.

Lucy's eyes fluttered open, and she looked down at herself in surprise.

"Who changed my clothes?"

"I did," Virgo said, stepping forward. "I thought garments from the Celestial World would suit you. As for who changed you, that would be me."

"Virgo?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Alright, now where am I?"

Blayze looked over to see Natsu awake and sitting up.

"I'm wasting time here," he said, jumping to his feet. "Where's that weird light thingy?"

Blayze looked to the left, and Natsu and Lucy followed his gaze.

"Well, we're definitely closer," Lucy murmured. "But, it looks different than before."

Virgo nodded. "Yes, the light changed from black to white while the two of you were unconscious."

"Why are we standing here wasting time when we should be going toward the light?" Natsu asked impatiently.

"I'm happy I could serve you princess. Until next time," Virgo said before disappearing in a puff of light.

Lucy sighed. "Well, I guess we should get moving then."

She started to walk forward, but Natsu grabbed her arm to hold her in place.

"Wait," he said, staring at the treeline.

"What is it?" Blayze asked.

"I hear someone coming this way."

As soon as he said it, Blayze's ears picked up on the sound of footsteps, and the three of them watched as a figure stepped out of the trees in front of them.

Blayze's eyes widened, and his back stiffened. Natsu and Lucy, however, both relaxed and smiled in relief.

For standing in front of them was Raven.

* * *

 **Just to let you guys know, I have a Tumblr account for my fanfics! My username is 'dreamerwithapen1', and I already have a couple of moodboards on their for Raven, and I plan on making a lot more, so go check that out if you get the chance!**

 **Until next time!**


	13. Chapter 13

**IMPORTANT: I posted a chapter last week, but the website was acting up on me, and it didn't show the story as updated. So, make sure to go read the previous chapter before reading this one!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, all I own are my OCs**

* * *

Blayze didn't breathe as Raven strode up to them and raked her eyes- _violet_ eyes Blayze noticed- over Lucy and Natsu's forms before stopping and crossing her arms over her chest. Her eyebrows gradually rose higher as she took in Lucy's scraped up body and Natsu's pale, sickly skin color.

"What the hell happened to you two?" she asked bluntly.

Lucy sighed wearily. "It's a long story, but basically, I fought off Angel while Natsu was laid up with motion sickness."

Raven's eyes slid to Natsu. "You let her fight the battle all alone?"

"It wasn't my fault! The raft kept moving back and forth the whole time!" he complained.

A vein ticked on Lucy's forehead. "Are you kidding me?! It didn't move an inch!"

Raven's lips curled up into a smirk as the two mages continued to bicker, and Blayze's brow furrowed. Had he been wrong about Lilith getting control? Both of Raven's amused eyes were solid violet, and she was acting like herself. It didn't make sense. He had been so sure...

"Where have you been?" he asked, crossing his arms.

Natsu and Lucy looked at Raven also, waiting for an answer. Raven's eyes flicked to his for only a second before turning her gaze to the waterfall behind them. Blayze's own eyes narrowed. Why wasn't she looking at him?

Raven tossed her messy ponytail over her shoulder. "While I was fighting the dark guild, I heard someone else wandering close by, so once I was done with the guild, I went to make sure that it wasn't someone from the Oracion Seis. But, whoever it was must've heard me coming because when I got there, the person was gone. I started to get a bad feeling, so I kept trying to track them down. But, they just kept going deeper and deeper into the forest until they just up and disappeared. My guess is that whoever it was was trying to lure me away from you guys so that I wouldn't be able to help fight Angel."

"It makes sense," Lucy murmured. "You're an S-Class mage, so they saw you as the biggest threat."

"They didn't want to risk fighting you and losing," Natsu mused.

Raven nodded. "Exactly."

Blayze stayed silent, a frown tugging at his lips. Her story didn't make sense. He had never known Raven to not be able to track someone down. Thanks to her Shadow Travel, she always caught up to the person she was tracking with ease. But, according to her story, she hadn't even caught a glimpse of the person that was supposedly luring her away. Dread coiled in his stomach.

Raven was lying.

He sprouted his wings and drifted up so that he was at eye level with them.

"Raven," he said.

Her eyes drifted over to him, and he locked his gaze onto hers.

"Jellal is here. He's the one that unsealed Nirvana."

His eyes bored into hers, waiting for surprise or anger to light them.

But it never came.

Her eyes remained blank, borderline _bored_ , as if she were silently wondering why the hell she was supposed to care.

Blayze's eyes widened as the realization hit him, and Lilith's eyes lit up with surprise before curiosity settled in.

She tilted her head to the left, loose strands of hair obscuring her right eye from view.

"What did I do that tipped you off?" she asked, genuine curiosity lighting up her face.

His mouth tightened, and he slowly maneuvered himself so that he was floating behind Natsu and Lucy, paws ready to grab onto them.

"You didn't react to hearing Jellal's name," he said tensely, briefly wondering if he shouldn't have told her that.

"Damn," she murmured, shaking her head softly. "So simple, yet so revealing. I'll have to be more careful next time, won't I?"

Lucy and Natsu's eyes were bouncing between them, confusion written on their faces.

"Um, what are you guys talking about?" Lucy asked.

Blayze's paws carefully grabbed the collars of their shirts. "There isn't going to be a next time."

Lilith's sharp grin was savage. "Now, we both know that's not true."

Fast as a viper, Lilith whipped her leg around at Natsu and Lucy, and if Blayze hadn't been so prepared for her attack, the kick would have landed. But, Blayze yanked the mages back with all of his strength, and they stumbled backwards, eyes wide with shock.

"Nicely done, kitty," Lilith purred, her grin widening.

"What the hell is going on?" Natsu shouted.

Blayze's mouth opened then closed. What was he supposed to say? How was he going to explain this?

As it turned out, he didn't need to come up with an explanation because Lucy did it for him.

"It's Nirvana's magic," she said, her face pale. "It switched her to the dark side."

Lilith eyed the blonde, and Blayze waited tensely for her to spill the truth about herself. But, instead, Lilith remained oddly silent as amusement and cruel enjoyment lit up her face.

"Yes, that is what happened, isn't it?" she breathed out before throwing a punch at them.

Blayze darted to Lucy and Natsu, expecting Lilith to go after them, but at the last second, she switched directions, and her fist caught Blayze in the gut, knocking the breath out of him and sending him flying into the water behind them.

Over the ringing in his ears, he heard the distinct sound of bones breaking and Lucy's pained scream.

"No," he groaned, pushing himself onto his knees. He looked up, blinking the water out of his eyes and saw Lucy lying on the ground, clutching her side.

 _Broken ribs,_ he thought faintly before looking back to see Lilith and Natsu engaged in a fight.

Natsu was on the offensive, throwing all kinds of punches and kicks, but Lilith dodged all of them with ease and grace. Neither of them, he noted, were using their magic. Natsu, because he didn't want to actually _hurt_ Raven; he was just trying to knock her out as quickly as possible. And Lilith, he knew, wasn't using her magic because she wasn't stupid. She knew that she couldn't use fire magic on the Fire Dragon Slayer. After all, Natsu had proved time and time again that he could ingest any type of fire, and it only made him stronger.

Eventually, Lilith grew bored of their fight, and when Natsu's back was turned to her, she threw a hard kick that sent him crashing into the trees. As if sensing his eyes on her, Lilith turned to Blayze with a wild grin and brushed the hair out of her eyes before winking at him, blue swirling around in her right eye.

"Fire Dragon Roar!"

Lilith turned lazily as a tornado of fire came spiraling towards her, and Blayze closed his eyes, already knowing what would happen.

As the attack stopped, and the dust settled, Blayze wasn't surprised to see Lilith standing in the same spot, completely unscathed. Natsu's jaw dropped as Lilith tilted her head at him, hair covering her right eye once again.

"What a pathetic excuse for fire magic."

With a shout, Natsu ran at her fists blazing.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Lilith ducked her head and kicked Natsu's legs out from under him in one seamless move.

He landed on his back with a thud, and Lilith pounced on him, throwing punch after punch.

"No, Raven, stop!" Blayze shouted, sprouting his wings and darting over to them.

Without looking up, Lilith backhanded Blayze across the face with enough force to send him flying into Lucy like a bullet. She cried out as he rammed into her side, and black dots danced across his vision.

"I'm sorry, Lucy," he said hoarsely.

She grimaced, still holding onto her side tightly. "It's okay. It's not your fault."

Lilith giggled suddenly, bringing their attention to her. She was standing above a bloodied, barely conscious Natsu with her fingers hovering over her mouth as manic laughter escaped her. But, it wasn't Natsu she was laughing at; instead, she closed her eyes and seemed to laugh at something that only she could hear.

Tears blurred his vision as he realized what she found so funny.

Raven.

After their last mission when Lilith had taken control, Raven had reluctantly explained to him that although Lilith was in control of her body, she didn't have complete control of her mind. She said that it was like being trapped in a cell in her own head. She was aware of everything that Lilith was doing and could even converse with her, but she couldn't stop her. She had told him in a voice, free of all emotion, that she had screamed and pleaded until her voice was hoarse for Lilith to stop, but all Lilith had done was laugh at her desperation.

And that was exactly what she was doing now.

After a few minutes, Lilith calmed down and swept her eyes over the three of them, and she almost looked disappointed.

"I was expecting so much more than that pathetic attempt of a fight," she said, walking over to Blayze and Lucy.

He could feel Lucy trembling against his back, and he grasped her hand as Lilith knelt down in front of them and grabbed Blayze's chin tightly, forcing him to look her in the eyes.

"How does it feel, kitty, to watch your beloved partner do such horrible things?" she murmured so that only he could hear. "I can tell you how she feels. She is in _agony_ right now, knowing that it's _her_ hands causing this pain and that she can't do a single thing to stop it."

Her head cocked to the side as if listening to something.

"She's begging me to stop, to let go of you, to not hurt you," she said, squeezing his chin so tightly it hurt. "She's throwing herself against the barrier in her mind, trying _so hard_ to break through. But, she knows that that's not enough, that it will never be enough. And you, kitty, won't be able to bring her back, not this time. I'll admit that I was caught off guard when you threw yourself in front of me last time, and that surprise cost me... but not today."

The tears he had been holding back finally slipped free, and Lilith grinned widely before shoving him back into Lucy and standing up. She walked away from them and, with a lazy wave, disappeared into the forest.

* * *

Lilith strolled through the forest, reveling in the feeling of being surrounded by such powerful dark magic. She felt it twisting and curling in the air around her, and she breathed in deeply, absorbing it into her own magic. She let out the breath slowly, lips curling up into a smile at the almost euphoric feeling.

But, of course, that feeling was short lived when her head throbbed painfully.

She winced and snarled, "Would you _stop doing that_?!"

 _It doesn't feel good does it?_ Raven growled, _Having someone_ constantly _clawing against your mind, trying to force their way in?_

Lilith rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic. I don't _force_ my way into your head; I simply wait for the opportunity to present itself, and I take it. It's not my fault that your mind is so damn weak."

 _The only reason you ever gain control is because you have the power of dark magic surrounding you,_ Raven snapped, _Without that, you're nothing._

Fire simmered in Lilith's veins, and she tightened the leash in her mind, Raven's presence growing fainter.

"Don't forget who has the power here, girl," Lilith hissed. "I am in control with the power of Nirvana only making me stronger; meanwhile, your precious friends are weak and vulnerable. Shall I go find more of them and do to them what I did to your cat and the others?"

Silence... and a trickle of fear.

Lilith let out a breath and grinned. "That's better."

Just for good measure, she kept the leash on Raven tight, keeping the girl in the deep recesses of her own mind.

* * *

Lilith growled in annoyance as her hair got caught in yet another bush. She muttered to herself as she picked out the strands that were wrapped around the thorns in the bush. When they still didn't come out, a strangled shout came out of her mouth, and she whipped out a dagger, readying to chop it off.

 _Don't you dare cut off my hair, you bitch!_ Raven shouted, her voice echoing faintly from the dark corner that Lilith had shoved her into.

"Don't be such a girl!" Lilith snapped. "It's only a small piece anyway."

Lilith ignored Raven's outraged shriek as she swung the dagger down... and then proceeded to drop it as the ground beneath her gave a violent lurch.

"Oomph!"

She faceplanted into the dirt and struggled to sit up as the ground cracked and groaned, and the shaking got worse. With a wild jerk, the ground beneath her rose into the air, and she yelped as her hair tore free from the bush.

"What the hell is this?!"

The stone leg continued to rise higher and higher until a clawed foot came out of the ground, and it came to a sudden halt. Looking up, Lilith saw several other legs emerging from the earth, and in the middle of it all was what looked to be a city in ruins.

She stood on shaky legs and tilted her head, taking in the sight and the dark magic that radiated from the very center of it.

"This must be Nirvana's final stage," she murmured.

With her curiosity now peaked, she made to walk forward when the leg lurched to the side. A wave of nausea rolled through her as Nirvana started to move, the stone legs trembling with each step.

"Damn dragon slayers and their motion sickness," she muttered through gritted teeth.

 _Serves you right,_ came Raven's muffled voice.

"Tch... shut up."

She forced herself to ignore the nausea and continued to make her way to Nirvana's center.

* * *

Explosions rocked Nirvana, one after another. It had been going on for a while now, and it was starting to make Lilith's head pound. From the sound of it, it seemed that everyone but her was engaged in some kind of battle. For once though, she didn't mind, because her goal wasn't to fight Raven's pathetic guild mates... no, what she wanted was Nirvana's power. If she could get to its source, then she could absorb the magic for herself.

And she would be unstoppable.

And Raven... Raven would be shoved so far into her own mind that she would cease to exist, and this body would finally belong wholly to Lilith. Never again would she be pushed to the side, locked away, _muzzled_ like a rabid dog that needed to be put down.

 _You're even more psychotic than I thought, if you think that I'll ever allow that to happen,_ Raven said faintly.

"I think that you'll soon find that you have no say in the matter," Lilith said, coming to a stop as she heard several people conversing somewhere to her left. She blinked, realizing that the explosions and fighting had stopped at some point, and now, all was quiet.

She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, finding the scents of Erza, Wendy, Carla, and someone she didn't recognize. Her eyes slowly opened, and a smirk pulled at her lips. Without giving it a second thought, she allowed her hair to cover her right eye, shoved her hands in her pant pockets, and strolled around the corner, coming face to face with the small group.

"Well, it's about time I found someone," she called out, lowering her voice to Raven's usual timbre.

Erza's head whipped around, and her face broke into a relieved grin.

"Raven, thank God you're okay," Erza said, turning around. The redhead looked like she wanted to rush forward and hug her, but for some reason, she stayed rooted in place.

"Same here. Last I saw you, you were dying from Cobra's venom, but it looks like Wendy got to you in time," she said, glancing at the small dragon slayer. "Thank you for saving her, Wendy."

The young girl blushed. "It was the least I could do."

"Who is this?"

Lilith turned from Wendy and stared as Erza hastily tried to shove someone behind her, but whoever it was stepped around Erza to look at Lilith.

Blue hair.

A red tattoo placed over brown eyes.

Rage, the likes of which she had never felt before, coursed through her like a wildfire, and Lilith choked as that damned leash wrapped around her throat and wrenched her back.

* * *

The instant Raven came back into her body, shadows erupted around her, and she launched herself forward.

"Shadow Dragon's Iron Fist!"

She targeted Jellal's chest and sent him flying into the building behind him, the impact causing the walls to collapse around him.

Before she could do anything else, a hand latched onto her arm and held her back.

"Raven, stop," Erza said firmly. "Jellal is not the enemy."

Raven stared at her incredulously. "What are you talking about? Of course he's the enemy! Have you forgotten what he did to you?!"

Erza's eyes hardened. "Of course not, but now is not the time for this. I know you're confused, and it's too long a story to tell now. All you need to know is that Jellal is on our side. His memory has been wiped clean, and he tried to stop Nirvana before it could enter its last stage."

"But I failed," he added, slowly picking himself up.

Raven ground her teeth together, resisting the urge to beat him to a pulp. Erza kept a restraining hand on her, just in case.

"You can't just give up!" Carla shouted, pulling Raven's attention to her and Wendy. "Our guild is in danger of being destroyed at any minute! Don't turn your back on your comrades. There must be something we can do-"

Carla was cut off as Nirvana shook violently beneath them.

"What was that?!" Erza exclaimed.

"Whatever it is, it isn't good," Raven muttered.

They ran over to the edge, and the sight before them sent chills down her spine.

Nirvana was preparing to strike, a large swirl of magic pointing right at the small guild below.

"That's Cait Shelter!" Wendy cried.

"What's going on? So much magic power... he's going to fire Nirvana!" Erza shouted, her face pale.

Sharp pain pierced Raven's skull, and she stumbled back, clutching her head.

"No, no, no," she mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut. "Not again."

 _ **You don't stand a chance,**_ Lilith hissed.

Raven ignored her and threw every bit of her concentration and power into keeping the barrier up. She couldn't let Lilith take control again, not _now_.

Nirvana fired suddenly, and Raven grabbed onto the wall next to her in order to stay up as a harsh wind came blowing at them. She shielded her eyes and watched in horror as a beam of magic shot at the guild.

Wendy screamed, and they all waited for the attack to hit... but it never did. Instead, the beam moved and struck just above the guild, missing it by only a few feet. As the dust settled, they all let out relieved breaths at the sight of Cait Shelter still standing.

"What happened?" Jellal asked.

A shadow passed over them, and Raven looked up in shock.

"No way," Erza breathed.

Flying above them was Christina. The magic bomber had seen better days, but it was functioning. And that was all that mattered.

"Do you read me? Someone, anyone, respond."

Raven started at the voice in her head before she realized that it was Hibiki. Judging by the looks on the others faces, they had heard it to.

"Please let me know that you're okay."

"I know that voice," Erza said, smiling. "It's Hibiki."

"Yeah," Wendy grinned.

"Erza and Wendy, good to know that you're alive and well," Hibiki said.

Raven let out a breath. "I never thought that I'd be glad to hear _his_ voice."

Hibiki chuckled. "I'm glad to hear your voice to, Raven."

"Raven?"

She froze as Blayze's voice filled her head.

"Raven... is that you?"

Her chest tightened at the worry in his tone. After everything she had done to him earlier... and _he_ was worried about _her_.

Her eyes stung as she answered him in a slightly shaky voice. "Yeah, it's me, buddy."

She could have sworn she heard a sob leave his throat.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, her voice steadying.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, and Master Ichiya is with me as well."

Her nose scrunched up. "Why are you with him?"

"I'm glad to hear that you're both okay," Hibiki cut in.

Erza shook her head. "I can't believe it. I never expected to see the magic bomber fly again."

"How'd you get her flying again?" Wendy asked curiously.

"Hard work," Hibiki answered, and Raven listened silently as he explained that Lyon, Ren, and Sherry were keeping it in the air, while Eve had used his magic to fire it at one of Nirvana's legs.

"We owe you one," Erza said.

"I'm sure you can tell... that everyone here is running low on magical energy now," Hibiki said quietly. "I'm afraid we can't attack from the ship anymore. The powers too low. Just flying this far... was hard enough, but don't worry. We're gonna be fine. Now, listen up. There's one last thing, a bit of good news. I know how to stop Nirvana!"

Raven tensed as anger rushed through her, but not her own. She slammed her power into the barrier as Lilith tried to claw her way through. With all of her focus on Lilith, she only faintly heard Hibiki explain that the six appendages all contained lacramas that were sucking magic energy from the earth in order to power Nirvana. But, if all six lacramas were destroyed at the same time, then Nirvana would shut down.

Raven started as Hibiki downloaded a timer into her head with the countdown set to twenty minutes. Almost instantly, the barrier in her mind cracked, and Raven shut out everything around her.

 _ **You are not going to take this opportunity away from me!**_ Lilith raged, throwing herself against the barrier.

Lilith was desperate now, Raven realized, knowing that she only had a small window to take Nirvana's power for herself. If Lilith got control now, she would take out everyone around her before they could destroy the lacramas, and then, all hope would be lost.

But Raven was willing to do anything to keep that from happening.

It took her a moment to realize that hands were shaking her shoulders, and someone was calling her name. She blinked up Erza, who was standing in front of her looking worried.

"What's wrong?" Erza asked, brows furrowed.

Raven sucked in a deep breath and looked at her with hard eyes.

"I need you to knock me out."

Erza sweatdropped, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wendy and Carla gaping at her.

"Why would I do that?" Erza demanded.

"There's no time to explain," Raven said.

Erza raised a brow and crossed her arms. "I'm not doing it without an explanation."

Raven sighed through her nose, recognizing the stubborn look on Erza's face. "Nirvana seems to have a stronger hold on me than anyone else. I already hurt-" She paused, working her jaw. "I already hurt Blayze, Natsu, and Lucy, and I refuse to let anything like that happen again. But, it's taking everything in me right now to resist Nirvana's magic, and I... I don't think I can hold it off much longer. So, I need you to knock me out because that's the only way that I can be sure that I won't hurt anyone."

Erza stared at her for a long minute before seeming to come to a decision.

She nodded. "Okay, I'll do it."

Raven closed her eyes and let out a relieved breath. "Thank y-"

An armored fist connected with her temple, and all she heard was a mumbled apology before the world went black.

* * *

Erza paced in front of the giant lacrama, her Black Wing armor at the ready. The timer Hibiki placed in her head informed her that there were only two minutes left until it was time to destroy the lacrama. She could only pray that the others were at their posts and ready as well.

Footsteps echoed down the dark corridor, and Erza tensed, bringing her sword up.

 _Nobody should be coming this way,_ she thought warily. _Who could it possibly be?_

Her eyes widened as the figure stepped into the light of the room.

Raven's dark curls had come out of their ponytail and hung wildly around her face, and a dark bruise was forming around her temple. But what had Erza tensing even more were her eyes. Her right eye was a blazing blue, while her left was violet with wisps of blue streaking through it.

"Looks like you should have hit me harder," Raven said, her voice slightly higher than usual.

Before Erza had the chance to respond, blinding blue fire erupted around the dragon slayer and shot out around the room, encasing them in a circle of flames.

Sweat dripped down Erza's face as the heat reached her. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before. The heat was nearly unbearable, and it was getting harder to breath with every second that went by.

Raven, however, looked completely unfazed by the raging inferno and lifted a hand into the air before bringing it down sharply. Blue flames came spiraling toward Erza, and she jumped to the side, flinching as the scorching heat brushed her arm as it barreled past her.

Wincing, she looked down to see the armor on her arm melting.

Girlish laughter brought her attention back to Raven, who was grinning at her.

"You've never felt fire like mine before, have you?" she asked. "That's because mine is one of a kind."

Erza gasped and ducked as a ball of fire hurtled toward her and exploded into the wall behind her. The room shook as the wall crumbled and turned to ash.

A warning bell went off in her head as the timer reached one minute. She had to hurry up and end this, _now_.

"Requip: Heaven's Wheel!"

With her armor in place, she summoned fifty swords and pointed them at Raven.

"If you don't end this right now, Raven, then I will."

Raven's grin only broadened, revealing her fangs.

"Let's see what you can do, Erza Scarlet."

With a shout, Erza sent her swords flying.

Raven didn't move; in fact, she didn't even look concerned. Erza understood why, when a second later, a wall of blue fire shot up in front of her like a shield... and none of her swords made it through.

The instant her swords touched the flames, they melted until there was nothing but a puddle of liquid metal in front of Raven.

Erza wiped the sweat from her forehead and slowly backed up until her back came in contact with the column that held the lacrama as the timer hit ten seconds. She watched as Raven held out her hands and summoned a ball of fire, the size of the lacrama itself, and faced Erza.

With three seconds left on the clock, Erza leaped into the air, and Raven threw the ball of fire after her. At the last second, she twisted to the side and watched as the attack hit the lacrama and exploded.

Erza went flying backwards and crashed into a wall as Nirvana shuddered, and it's magic winked out like a light. In the same moment, she heard a sharp gasp, and she watched in horror as Raven's eyes rolled back into her head, and the ground gave out beneath her.

* * *

 **Woo! That was my longest chapter yet, and I'm super happy with how it turned out! At first, I was kind of worried that I wouldn't be able to portray Lilith the way that I wanted, but I actually really loved writing her character!**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and if you haven't yet, go check out my Tumblr: 'dreamerwithapen1' where you can find some moodboards that I made for Raven:)**

 **Until next time!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, all I own are my OCs**

* * *

The first thing that Raven noticed when she gained consciousness was that a harsh wind was blowing on her face and was causing her hair to whip around her wildly, and it reminded her of why she almost always had it tied back.

The next thing that caught her attention was the noise. It sounded like the earth itself was shaking violently, and it took her a few seconds to realize that it was Nirvana collapsing in on itself which meant that, by some miracle, everyone had managed to destroy all six lacramas at the same time.

It took her _another_ few seconds to remember that right before she had lost consciousness, the ground beneath her had given out, sending her plummeting to her untimely death.

Her eyes snapped open, and a loud shriek escaped her mouth at the sight of the rocky earth several hundred feet beneath her. Her heart raced like a hummingbird's wings, and her breath was coming out in short gasps. She had the distant thought to call out for help, but it felt like her throat had closed up, allowing nothing but her shallow breaths to pass through. Fear gripped her heart like a vice, making it impossible to think clearly.

"Deep breaths," came a calm, familiar voice. "Take deep breaths and take a minute to get your bearings."

She listened to the voice and breathed in deeply through her nose before letting the air out shakily. As she did it again, she looked down below and noticed that in her panic, she had failed to realize that the ground was no closer than it was before.

She wasn't falling; she was _flying_.

Her face slowly heated up as she realized just how much she had overreacted.

She glanced up at Blayze, who had been silent while she calmed herself down, and found him staring down her with a bemused expression, as if he didn't know whether to laugh at her or be worried for her.

She spoke before he could make a decision. "So... you saw me falling from Nirvana, huh?"

The amusement faded from his eyes as he nodded. "I was already making my to you when Nirvana shut down, and I saw you falling, obviously unconscious," he explained. "What happened with you anyway? Before Hibiki's connection cut out, I didn't hear you say anything about which lacrama you would be at."

The memory of what happened right before Nirvana collapsed came back to her suddenly, and her breath caught in her throat as panic rose up in her.

"Wait, where's Erza? Did you see what happened to her? Is she okay?"

Blayze nodded quickly. "Yeah, yeah, she's safe. I saw her and Gray run out before Nirvana collapsed. We should reach them pretty soon."

"Thank God," she breathed, "I hope everyone else made it out in time."

"I'm sure they did," he said.

"To answer your question," she started hesitantly, "After I- Lilith... after Lilith left you, Natsu, and Lucy, she got caught on one of Nirvana's legs when it came out of the ground. She wanted to find Nirvana's source of power, so she could take it for herself. That's what she was on her way to do when she came across Erza, Wendy, Carla... and Jellal." She paused, forcing down the anger that arose in her at the thought of Jellal and shook her head before continuing. "However, when she came face to face with Jellal... all I could feel was rage. Seeing him, standing next to Erza so casually, as if he had never done anything wrong, as if he hadn't tried to _kill_ her... I think Lilith was caught off guard by me reacting so strongly to him, so I took advantage of her surprise, again, and shoved her behind the barrier before attacking Jellal. But, all I got in was one punch before Erza got ahold of me and explained that he was on our side now. Then, in all the chaos after that, I could feel Lilith fighting back. I knew that I couldn't hold her off for long, so I had Erza knock me out."

Blayze blinked down at her. "You what?"

She sighed. "It was the only way I could think of keeping Lilith from taking control. As long as I'm unconscious, so is she. I was hoping that by the time I woke up, Nirvana would be destroyed, but there was still a couple of minutes left on the timer. Lilith knew it to and took control. She went to find Erza and stop her from destroying the lacrama. When Lilith found her, she... she used her magic."

Blayze looked at her sharply. "Which one?"

Raven grimaced. "Hellfire."

He let out a long breath, knowing exactly what kind of damage that fire could do. "Damn... is Erza okay?"

"Yeah... she's all good," she murmured. "None of the attacks hit her, at least not directly. But now..."

"Now Erza will want to know how you used fire magic," he finished.

"Exactly," she said quietly, already dreading that inevitable conversation.

"You have to tell her the truth."

She shook her head as he spoke. "No, I can't-"

"Yes, you can," he said firmly, cutting her off. "She'll understand, and she'll help you in anyway that she can. Lying to her about it will only make it worse when the truth eventually comes out... which it will," he paused before adding quietly, "We got lucky today. Nirvana's power provided an excuse for what happened with Natsu and Lucy, but at some point... the guild is going to find out."

"I know," she whispered.

He sighed quietly. "I'm not saying that you should tell everyone at once. I'm just saying... you should at least tell Erza."

As much as she hated to admit it, and as much as it terrified her, she knew that Blayze was right, so she pressed her lips together and nodded shortly.

Within a few minutes, Gray and Erza came in to view, and they landed lightly in front of them. Blayze let his wings disappear and rested on Raven's shoulder, wrapping his tail loosely around her neck when his legs wobbled. Before she could say anything, Erza crushed Raven to her chest in a hard hug.

"Thank God you're alright," Erza murmured. "I saw you fall, but I couldn't see where you ended up, or if you were okay."

Raven slowly wrapped her arms around Erza and closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Erza, I never meant to hurt you... I'm sorry."

Erza smiled softly. "You have nothing to apologize for, Raven. I know that you weren't yourself, that Nirvana had control of you. I would never hold that against you."

Raven let out a deep breath and pulled back. "Thank you, Erza, truly."

The redhead nodded, letting her arms fall from Raven's shoulders. Before stepping away, she lowered her voice, so that Gray couldn't hear.

"But, you have some explaining to do concerning that magic of yours," she said seriously.

"I know," Raven said quietly. "I'll explain everything to you when this is all over. I promise."

"Um, you guys?" Gray called out, stepping forward. "I hate to ruin the moment, but who is _that_?!"

Raven, Erza, and Blayze looked to where he was pointing, and Raven let out a startled yelp and stumbled backwards, pulling Erza with her.

"There you are! I'm so glad that you made it out okay, my scarlet haired beauty!" said the giant, grotesque _thing_ running toward them.

The four of them screamed, and Erza summoned a spear and pointed it threateningly at the monster.

"Who are you?!"

"You heard her! Answer the lady or else!" Gray shouted, ready to summon his ice magic at any moment.

Raven shifted so that Blayze was out of harm's way and held out her hand, letting shadows engulf her fist.

"You don't want to mess with us right now," she warned.

The monster waved its hands around frantically.

"No, no, wait! Can't you see that I am your ally? My power parfum has temporarily altered my _outward_ appearance, but deep down, I haven't changed. I am your beloved Ichiya, and you are my honey!" he said, pointing at Erza.

Raven let her magic disappear as her eyes slid to the embarrassed form of Erza.

Ichiya struck a pose, making them all sweatdrop.

"Look at me sparkle!"

"Looks like your little admirer has gone full on stalker," Gray said.

"No joke," Erza muttered. "I'd kick him out of the alliance, but he's so dependable."

"I didn't think it was possible for him to become even more disturbing than he already is, but this is just a whole new level of creepy," Raven said.

Something crashed to the ground in front of them, and Raven tore her eyes away from Ichiya, only to find a giant grandfather clock sitting in front of them.

"'So dizzy,' she says in a wobbly tone."

"Am I going crazy, or did that clock just talk?" she asked Blayze.

"Not crazy," he said, blinking several times. "I heard it to."

"An enemy!" Ichiya shouted, getting in a defensive stance.

"No," Erza cut in. "Stand down."

"Yeah, it's just one of Lucy's spirits," Gray explained.

Raven stiffened at the Celestial Wizard's name. Last she had seen her, Lucy had been lying on the ground with broken ribs, thanks to Lilith. Guilt hit her like a tidal wave, and she stared at the ground as Lucy and Happy stepped out of the spirit's enclosure.

How could she ever expect Lucy to forgive her?

With Erza, it was different. Erza was her closest friend and would never pass judgement on her. She alway took everything Raven said or did in stride and was always quick to forgive.

But Lucy... Lucy was her guildmate, yes, but they hardly even knew each other. Raven's impression of the blonde was that of a cheerful, kindhearted, and loyal person, while Lucy's impression of Raven was that of a person who was easily swayed to the 'dark side' and viciously attacked her fellow guildmates, the very people she should be _protecting_.

Guilt mixed with self-loathing, and her jaw clenched as bile rose in her throat.

Blayze squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, and she glanced back up in time to see Jura, Wendy, and Carla running toward them.

"Thank goodness, everyone's alright," Jura said.

"Even that silly blue tomcat," Carla said in surprise.

Wendy grinned, "Natsu and Jellal, are they here?"

Raven blinked at Natsu's name and scanned the area around them, just now noticing that he was nowhere in sight.

"Are they still inside?" Ichiya asked.

"Oh no," Lucy said, clasping her hands together, "Now, I'm worried."

Gray shrugged, looking unconcerned. "He's probably lost in the forest, knowing that flame for brains."

"Hey! Natsu!" Wendy shouted worriedly.

Raven's brow creased as worry gnawed at her.

 _Natsu... last I saw him, Lilith had beaten him into a bloody mess..._

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the memory that sent nausea sweeping through her. Suddenly, the ground rolled under them, and she stumbled backwards, Blayze tightening his grip on her shoulder.

She turned around, and her mouth dropped at the sight before her.

The Oracion Seis member, Hoteye, was standing in front of them with Natsu and Jellal in his arms.

"Love drives us to save our friends!" Hoteye exclaimed, "Oh yeah!"

Wendy ran to Natsu, tears streaming down her face, and threw herself into his arms.

"Natsu! You're okay!"

Raven watched in slight confusion as Natsu chuckled and stepped back.

"If it weren't for you," Wendy said, "Cait Shelter would've been wiped out."

"Well," Natsu said, turning to face the rest of them, "There's no way I could've done it on my own. Thanks, you guys."

"You saved my guild," Wendy murmured, bowing her head in gratitude.

As Natsu's eyes scanned over the group, Raven slipped behind Erza and Gray. She felt Blayze's eyes on her, but she ignored him, choosing to stare at the ground with her arms crossed tightly against her chest.

How could she even _begin_ to ask for his forgiveness?

In her heart, she knew that Natsu had already forgiven her, and that he would never hold this against her. He would be utterly forgiving and would brush it off as if it were nothing.

And she _hated_ that.

She hated that he was so quick to forgive and forget, when what she did was unforgiveable. She deserved his hate and mistrust, not his compassion and forgiveness.

 _That's not who Natsu is,_ her mind whispered.

 _No,_ she thought, letting her eyes drift over to Natsu, who was lying on the ground in exhaustion. _No, it's not.``_

"I'm glad everyone made it out okay," Happy said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

Jura nodded. "It was close, but excellent work by those involved."

Ichiya struck a sudden pose. "I think it's time for a group hug! Who's with me?"

Lucy sweatdropped. "In your dreams, creep."

"Speaking of creeps," Gray said turning around, "Who is that guy?"

"Someone from Blue Pegasus?" Lucy wondered.

Raven turned to where they were looking and froze. She had been so caught up in her own head that she had forgotten all about Jellal.

Erza stepped next to Raven and said quietly, "It's Jellal."

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Oh no! Not him again!"

"He's changed," Erza said, ignoring Gray and Lucy's panic. "He's not the same man we dealt with before."

"He's completely lost his memory," Wendy explained.

As Gray and Lucy voiced their doubts, Raven watched warily as Erza made her way over to Jellal's silent form.

"Do you truly think that he's changed?" Blayze asked quietly.

"I don't know," she murmured, not taking her eyes off of Erza. "We weren't here when everything at the Tower went down, so I can't say for sure... but just because he lost his memories... it doesn't excuse his past actions. One way or another, there needs to be consequences for what he's done, no matter if he was being controlled or not."

Blayze looked at her then, and he knew that she wasn't just talking about Jellal.

"Raven-"

"My handsome face!"

Raven peeled her eyes away from Erza and Jellal and looked at Ichiya.

"There a problem, meathead?" Gray asked.

"I wanted to go make a letter of the alphabet, but I ran into an invisible wall!"

"Look!" Wendy said, crouching down, "There's weird writing on the ground."

Raven's brow creased, and she held a hand out tentatively before it hit a barrier, purple lettering appearing in her front of her.

"What the hell?" she muttered.

"No way," Gray said.

"An enchantment?!" they all shouted.

"How did we not notice someone casting the spell?" Happy cried as they all went into defensive positions.

"If I had to guess, I would say this is Freed's work," Gray said.

"No," Raven said, backing toward them, "This magic is more powerful than Freed's."

Lucy cast Raven a surprised glance, as if just now noticing the dragon slayer. "Then, how are we gonna get out?"

"Okay, who did this?! Show yourself!" Natsu shouted, coming to a stop beside Raven, who tensed at the close proximity.

 _Now is not the time to worry about your own problems!_ she scolded herself.

Footsteps sounded all around them, and Raven watched in shock as people in uniform surrounded the outside of the barrier.

"Who- who are these people?" Wendy asked nervously.

"There's no need to panic," someone said, walking forward. "We mean you no harm. Sorry about this, but we were forced to do something to restrain you."

 _Restrain us?_

"Who the heck are you?" Happy shouted.

"I am the captain of the new Magic Council's Custody Enforcement Unit, Lahar, and _this_ is my army."

"What?"

"There's a new Magic Council?"

"Sure didn't take them very long."

Lahar took another step forward. "It is my duty to uphold the law and preserve justice throughout the land, so all evil-doers must be arrested."

"We're not evil-doers," Carla said, obviously offended.

"Why are we in trouble when we didn't do anything wrong?" Happy asked.

"At least... not that we know of," Natsu added, shaking in his boots.

 _He's not here for_ us _,_ she thought grimly.

Lahar echoed her thoughts. "I'm not here to arrest _you_. I have been ordered to take the Oracion Seis into custody. I ask that you please cooperate and hand over the man code-named 'Hoteye'."

"No, never!" Jura stated, stepping forward.

"It's alright. I'll surrender," Hoteye said calmly.

"But, why?"

Hoteye bowed his head. "I can not fully embrace the life of virtue when my past transgressions continue to haunt me. This is my chance to atone for my sins. It's best that I have a clean slate when I find my brother. That way, I will have nothing to hide. Don't you agree?"

A chill crept down Raven's spine at his words, and Blayze glanced at her questioningly when he felt her tense. But memories were creeping to the surface, and all she could do was watch numbly as Hoteye was put into chains and taken into custody.

She saw Lahar's mouth moving but didn't hear a word. Her ears were filled with an unearthly silence that she knew all too well.

 _Her shrill scream pierced the air, sending birds flying from trees, and nearby deer scattering into the forest._

 _"What have you done?!"_

 _The words tore from her throat, ragged with agony, and small hands lifted into the air, trying to calm her._

 _"Just let us explain-"_

Pain laced her shoulder, and she jerked her head to the side to find Blayze's claws digging into her shoulder as he stared at her worriedly.

With her attention now on him, he retracted his claws quickly, and she saw the question in his eyes.

She swallowed and nodded shortly, silently assuring him that she was fine now. He exhaled quietly and looked away.

She took a deep breath to steady her frayed nerves and forced herself to focus on what was happening in the present.

"... Not until we've captured our true objective."

Everyone stared at Lahar in confusion, including Raven, who had no idea what was going on.

"A fiend who infiltrated and destroyed the Magic Council and fired the Etherion canon. A man more villainous than the Oracion Seis, truly black of heart... I'm referring to you, Jellal," Lahar said before gesturing behind him. "Let's go. Know that if you resist, we have explicit orders to kill you."

"Leave him alone," Wendy cried.

"You're making a mistake, man," Natsu said seriously.

"Jellal is a criminal," Lahar said, "Society is in danger as long as he is free. He must be brought to justice."

A couple of knights put Jellal in chains as Lahar said, "Jellal Fernandes, you are hereby under arrest for crimes against the kingdom."

Raven heard Erza inhale sharply and turned to see her standing still with wide eyes.

"No, please don't take him away!" Wendy shouted, "It's not fair; he doesn't even remember what he's done! All of his memories have been completely erased."

Lahar looked down at her.

"Ignorance of one's crimes is no defense." He looked to one of the knights. "You may remove the barrier now."

"Hold on-"

"It's alright," Jellal interrupted, "I will not resist arrest. Please, forgive me. I wish that I could remember you. I'm sorry that I cannot, truly."

 _How the hell does Wendy know Jellal?_ she wondered.

Carla stepped forward. "When she was lost and alone, you found her and saved her life."

"Did I?" Jellal asked. "I may never know the harm I inflicted upon you and countless others... but at least I know, at some point, I helped one person." He paused, then called out, "Erza... I won't forget your kindness."

With that, Lahar and his army turned and started to walk away with Jellal in custody, and Raven looked at Erza once again, taking in her curled fists and shaking form.

"You'll get a life sentence, that's if you're lucky," she heard Lahar say to Jellal, "In any case, you'll never see these people again."

"He's gone," Wendy said, tears streaming down her face.

It all happened fast.

Erza leapt forward, in some desperate attempt to save Jellal, but Raven darted toward her and wrapped an arm around the redhead's waist, jerking her back.

In the same instant, Natsu ran at the knights and shouted, "Hold it right there!"

Erza tensed in her arms, and Raven's eyes widened in panic.

"Natsu!" Gray shouted.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Lucy exclaimed as Natsu became surrounded by knights.

Lahar whirled around. "Stop this!"

"Get out of my way!" Natsu shouted angrily, "He's one of us, and that means he comes with us!"

Raven's arms went slack around Erza as shock coursed through her.

 _How... how can he forgive Jellal... so easily?_

Her wide eyes shifted to Erza, who was standing as still as a statue, staring at Natsu in utter shock.

 _He's doing it for Erza, because he knows... he knows that if Jellal is taken away... it will hurt Erza. And Natsu will never let his guildmates get hurt... not if he can stop it._

Raven was torn inside. She understood Natsu's reasoning, she truly did. And part of her wanted to jump into the fight alongside him to spare Erza the pain. But on the other hand... did Jellal deserve to walk away after everything he had done? All of the pain and heartbreak he had caused, all of the _evil_ he had done... there had to be consequences for that.

But was she willing to let Erza's broken heart be a part of that?

 _After everything that Erza has done for me... I can't just stand back and let this happen to her. I_ won't _._

She didn't allow herself to think about it anymore. As more knights ran at Natsu, she sprinted forward, Blayze hopping off of her shoulder just in time.

"Shadow Dragon Iron Fist!"

The group of knights in the front went flying back into their comrades, and Raven turned to see Gray standing a few feet away from her, landing punches and kicks at the knights who dared come near him.

"Keep going, Natsu!" Gray shouted.

"Don't stop!" Happy called out.

"We got this!" she said, sending another attack into their ranks. "Get to Jellal!"

"Shadow Dragon Beam!"

A large, black magic circle appeared over the knights' heads, and they didn't even have time to run as a pillar of shadows shot out of the magic circle and blasted them all backwards, creating a deep crater in the earth.

She was vaguely aware of the others jumping in to fight as she continued to blast her way through the knights.

"Listen, you owe Erza big time!" she heard Natsu shout, "She needs you to stay by her side. She did it for you, man. You gotta stay, because whether you like it or not, you're one of us now!"

"Arrest them all for aiding a fugitive and obstructing the law!" Lahar screamed, sending another wave of knights at them.

"That's enough! Stop this at once!"

Raven stopped short, whipping around to see Erza standing before them all, and everyone else did the same.

"I apologize for this disturbance," she said, shadows concealing her face, "It's gone too far. I'm the one to blame. Now, _please_... take him away."

Raven's eyes softened at the pain in her voice.

 _Oh, Erza..._

"But why?" Natsu shouted.

" _Sit down._ "

Natsu plopped down in a heartbeat. "Yes, ma'am."

As Jellal was led away, once again, he smiled and looked at Erza over his shoulder.

"I remember... it was the color of your hair."

Erza inhaled sharply, and Raven saw tears in the corner of Erza's eyes as she watched Jellal step into the waiting carriage, its doors slamming closed behind him.

* * *

As dawn slowly approached, Raven made her way up to the top of the cliff.

She had left Blayze at their group's makeshift campsite about an hour ago, where everyone had been resting and letting their wounds heal, well... almost everyone.

She glanced up at the top of the cliff and saw red hair gleaming in the light of the rising sun.

Originally, Raven had planned on going off on her own for a while, needing the space to think, to plan exactly how she was going to explain everything to Master Makarov... about how she lost control on her previous mission... and how that had lead to her hurting her guildmates on this one.

It was sort of ironic, she supposed, that she had finally gained the courage to tell everything to Master thanks to the actions of Hoteye, a member of the Oracion Seis, and Jellal, a man she had never met, yet hated.

 _If they can be brave enough to face the consequences of their actions... then so can I._

As she reached the top of the cliff, Erza's back facing her, she shook off her thoughts.

Yes, she had set out with the intention of being alone for a while... but she had heard Erza's quiet sobs and knew that Erza's needs were more important than her own right now.

Her footsteps were soft as she crossed over the rocky ground and eased herself down next to Erza. Silently, Raven slipped an arm around her shoulders, and Erza laid her head on Raven's shoulder, shaking from the force of her quiet sobs.

Raven rubbed soothing circles on her back and rested her head gently on Erza's, offering her friend her silent comfort.

Just as Erza had once done for her.

* * *

 **Yay! I finally got the chapter out, and I'm already working on the next one! The next chapter is one that I've had in my mind _forever._ It was one of the first scenes I ever came up with for this fic, and I'm super excited to write it! The next chapter should be out this week, so keep an eye out for it!**

 **I know I keep mentioning it, but in case you didn't know, I have a Tumblr account where you can find some edits and fun stuff for _Finding Yourself_ , so go check that out! My account name is _dreamerwithapen1_**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and if you did, leave a review! Let me know your thoughts!**

 **Until next time!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Warning: There's some mentions of a few gruesome deaths a little over halfway into the chapter; it's not super gory or detailed, but I thought I would mention it anyway, just to be safe!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, all I own are my OCs**

* * *

A light mist sprayed Raven's face as their ship sailed the ocean at a leisurely pace. The skies were a clear blue, and the sun was shining brilliantly, making her thankful for the lightweight outfit that Cait Shelter had provided.

The ruby red halter top outlined with pale gold cut off just above her belly button, letting a small strip of her tan skin show; while the matching skirt fell down below her knees with large slits on either side, revealing her short gold spandex underneath. She had let Lucy pull her hair back into two dutch braids that stopped just shy of her waist and were tied off with thin golden ribbons that contrasted nicely with her midnight hair.

Raven had been hesitant to approach Lucy back at Cait Shelter, and she had sensed a little bit of unease from the blonde, not that Raven blamed her. Being brutally attacked and having your ribs broken by a guildmate you hardly know wasn't something that one would get over easily. However, when Raven had finally gathered the courage to look Lucy in the eyes and apologize profusely for what she had done, the blonde had shocked her.

* * *

 _As the stream of apologies left Raven's mouth, Lucy simply stared at her with a slightly surprised look, as if she didn't know what to make of Raven's subdued and hesitant behavior._

 _"I know that we don't know each other very well, but there is a certain innate trust that we in the guild have with each other... and I understand if I have broken that trust between us," Raven said quietly, forcing herself to look Lucy in the eyes. "You have every right to hate me, and to want nothing to do with me, but if you will allow it, I will do everything in my power to gain back your trust and faith in me."_

 _She couldn't stop her eyes from seeking the ground when she finished speaking, her hands clasped tightly in front of her, so she didn't see the way that Lucy's eyes softened as she reached out and intertwined her hands with Raven's._

 _Her head shot up at the touch to find Lucy smiling at her with nothing but forgiveness and understanding shining in her eyes._

 _"You never lost my trust, Raven, not for a second," Lucy said softly, "I admit that what happened terrified me, but I know that you would never intentionally hurt me or anyone in the guild. Nirvana was a magic stronger than any of us were expecting, and you weren't the only one who it got a hold of. No one blames you, Raven, or has lost faith in you, believe me."_

 _Raven sucked in a deep breath and gave a small smile, shocked that the blonde had forgiven her so easily. "Thank you, Lucy... you have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that."_

 _Lucy's smile broadened, and she squeezed Raven's hands. "Now that that's settled, what do you say you and I go get Erza and Wendy and have ourselves a little girl time?"_

 _Raven winced at the thought of what 'girl time' would involve but didn't protest as Lucy lead her outside to find the others._

* * *

 _I don't know why I'm always so surprised at Fairy Tail's willingness to forgive and move on,_ she thought, swinging her leg idly.

She was currently lying on her back on the figurehead of the ship with one leg stretched out before her and the other dangling off the side. Her arms were crossed behind her head, and she stared blankly into the open blue sky.

She hadn't strayed from this spot for most of the day, and even though she could hear the others laughing and enjoying themselves on the deck, she couldn't bring herself to join them.

The closer the ship brought them to Magnolia, the tighter the knot in her stomach became. Wendy's healing spell had made all traces of motion sickness vanish, only for it to be replaced with anxiety. Her inevitable conversation with Master Makarov was drawing closer, and she was starting to lose her nerve. She could already imagine the shock, the hurt, and the disappointment on Master's face when she told him about losing control of Lilith, not once, but twice.

 _I should have told him the second I got back from the job with Dark Python,_ she thought as guilt gnawed away at her. _The others may be quick to forgive, but Gramps..._

It would take a while for her to gain back his trust.

As another round of laughter sounded behind her, she closed her eyes.

 _At least Erza and Wendy are feeling better._

It had been a shock to find out that Cait Shelter was nothing but an illusion, and that the master was simply a spirit watching over Nirvana. And if it was shocking to her... she could imagine how hard that blow hit Wendy. The young dragon slayer's sobs and screams of pain would haunt Raven for a long time, if only because it reminded her so much of herself.

 _"What have you done?!"_

She shuddered, opening her eyes once more and letting the bright sunlight burn away that dark memory.

Her mind was always left a little fragile and vulnerable after an encounter with Lilith, and she thanked God every day that Lilith was left just as weak as her and was, therefore, unable to take advantage of Raven's weakness.

However, her mind was then left vulnerable to the memories that she worked so hard to keep locked away. It had been years since that particular memory, her _worst_ memory, had risen to the surface, and it was taking every bit of strength she had left to keep it from consuming her.

She was broken out of her thoughts as someone touched her shoulder lightly.

"We're home," Blayze announced.

She lifted her head, and, seeing that they were entering the docks, she climbed onto her feet and hopped down onto the deck as Blayze took his place on her shoulder, and they followed the others off the ship and into Magnolia.

* * *

The Fairy Tail Guild Hall stood tall and proud before Raven, the familiar sounds and smells welcoming her, yet she found herself unable to go in.

The others had already gone inside and introduced their new members, Wendy and Carla, and in typical Fairy Tail fashion, a loud, rowdy party was already taking place.

"We can do this tomorrow after you've had time to rest and recuperate," Blayze said. "You're not usually at your best after fighting Lilith, and this conversation is going to be hard. You should wait until you're feeling better."

"No," she said, shaking her head, "If I don't do this now, then I never will. And the longer I wait, the worse it's gonna be."

After a couple of deep breaths and a reassuring squeeze from Blayze, she pulled the door open and slipped inside the guild hall. By now, the party was in full swing, so no one noticed as Raven maneuvered her way through crowd to where Master Makarov was sitting on the bar, drinking and laughing merrily. Her stomach plummeted.

 _I'm about to ruin his day._

She bit her lip at the thought but continued on, not stopping until she reached his side.

"Gramps."

He turned his head at her voice, and, seeing the grim look on her face, his smile fell.

"Raven? What is it?" he asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

"We need to talk," she said.

His eyes bounced between her and Blayze for a moment before he nodded.

"Let's go to my office," he said, setting down his mug and hopping off of the counter.

She followed silently behind him as they made their way up the stairs and into his office.

* * *

"What's going on?" Makarov asked from his place behind his desk.

Raven cleared her throat and shifted in her seat across from him. Blayze sat on the armrest next to her and nodded for her to begin.

She forced the words out of her mouth. "I haven't been honest with you."

A frown formed on his face. "How so?"

"When I returned from my last mission, and you asked if everything was okay and how I was feeling, and I said I was fine... I lied."

Makarov leaned forward and rested his arms on his desk. "Why?"

"Because I was too scared to tell you the truth," she admitted, swallowing hard. "And I didn't want to accept that it was out of my control."

Makarov straightened in his seat. "That _what_ was out of your control?"

"Lilith."

He stared at her for a long moment, his face grave, yet when he spoke, his voice was calm. "Start from the beginning. What happened on your job with Dark Python?"

"After I found their guild and scouted for a bit, I decided to make my move. At first, it was easy. The lower level mages attacked first, and I took them out with no problems," she paused, gathering herself before continuing, "Then the stronger mages came out. There weren't many of them, and they weren't incredibly powerful... but the dark magic that surrounded them... it was stronger than I expected, and I wasn't prepared for Lilith to fight as hard as she did."

She licked her lips, eyes darting to Gramps, trying to gauge his reaction, but his face was carefully blank as she told her tale. A light touch on her arm had her glancing down at Blayze, who nodded reassuringly.

With another deep breath, she continued. "It took me longer than usual to finish the stronger mages, because I was also trying to keep Lilith at bay. I could feel her pushing against the barrier, but she couldn't get enough strength to break through. Once I was done with all of the mages, I thought that was it, so I let my guard down... and then the guild master came out."

Makarov blinked, surprise lighting up his features. "I thought Dark Python didn't have a guild master."

"They weren't supposed to."

* * *

 _Raven leaned against the wall of the guild, trying to catch her breath. A quick scan of the area showed about eighty mages strewn about the ground, all unconscious, and, even though Lilith was still there, pacing along the barrier, Raven allowed a small smile to grace her features. She had successfully controlled Lilith while fighting in the presence of strong dark magic._

 _"You doing okay?" Blayze asked, hovering in front of her._

 _"Yeah, I'm good," she said, her breath evening out. "I've got her under control."_

 _"Good," he sighed._

 _"Well, this is disappointing... but I'm not surprised. They never were the strongest mages."_

 _Raven and Blayze whipped around at the unfamiliar voice, automatically shifting into defensive stances. She watched warily as the stranger weaved around the unconscious mages, hands stuffed in his pockets as he casually made his way toward them._

 _The man was huge, both in height and muscle, possibly even bigger than Elfman. He was dressed immaculately in black dress shoes, slacks, and a deep grey dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to show off his impressive muscles. Tattoos covered his arms and snaked up his neck, all of them indistinguishable. Both sides of his head were shaved, leaving a mop of dark brown curls on top which matched the scruff on his face. His eyes were obscured by a pair of dark sunglasses, making it hard to read his expressions._

 _Overall, he was a very impressive looking man, but Raven felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She reached out and pulled Blayze closer to her side. Sensing her sudden unease, Blayze shifted behind her and grabbed the back of her shirt, ready to take them away at a moment's notice._

 _The man came to a stop a few feet in front them, and although she couldn't see his eyes, she could feel them burning holes into her._

 _"You took out all of them?"_

 _The question sounded more like a statement, but she answered anyway._

 _"That's right," she said, lifting a brow, "And who are you supposed to be?"_

 _The man cocked his head and grinned apologetically. "Forgive me. My name is Rassa, and you?"_

 _"Raven," she answered as his name bounced around her head._

 _Why does his name sound so familiar? she thought, a crease forming between her brows._

 _"So, Rassa, why were you hiding in the guild while your comrades fought so valiantly out here?" she drawled, trying to settle her sudden nerves as she felt Lilith perk up from behind the barrier._

 _Rassa laughed lightly. "I wouldn't go so far as to call them my_ comrades _. As guild master, they are more like my... subordinates."_

 _"Guild master?" she repeated skeptically. "Dark Python doesn't have a guild master."_

 _"Now, who told you that?"_

 _A chill went down her spine._

 _Something wasn't right. She had done thorough research on Dark Python before leaving, and every source said the same thing. Dark Python wasn't ruled by a guild master; instead, they had a small council within the guild that acted as co-leaders._

 _Did the sources have it wrong? Or was Rassa lying? But why would he lie about being a guild master?_

 _It didn't make any sense._

 _Rassa smiled and inclined his head. "I can see that you're confused by this, so allow me to explain. As per my instructions, the rumor spread that Dark Python had no guild master. You see, I needed somewhere to lie low for a while, and I thought, 'what better place than a small, unassuming dark guild'? After all, the Council would never expect someone like me to hide in such a low, unknown guild."_

 _All at once, she knew who he was... and she knew why his name had caught Lilith's attention._

 _Rassa 'Spinebreaker', a rogue dark wizard with considerable power that the Magic Council had been chasing for years. The public was never told what kind of magic he wielded, but there were rumors that he didn't even have to touch you to hurt you. That simply by looking at you, he could kill you._

 _If those rumors were to be believed, then she needed to end this,_ quick _. She hated going into a fight blind, but she had no choice._

 _"Shadow Dragon Atomic Bomb!"_

 _A large magic circle appeared under Rassa's feet and exploded, making the earth shake as her magic created a deep crater in the ground. Through the dust, she saw Rassa standing up and didn't give him a chance to retaliate._

 _She sucked in a deep breath._

 _"Shadow Dragon Roar!"_

 _A tornado of shadows tore through the air and connected, sending Rassa flying into the trees that surrounded the guild._

 _"Take me up," she said over her shoulder._

 _Blayze wasted no time getting them airborne. They shot into the sky, and she scanned the trees below, searching for the dark wizard._

 _There._

 _As Rassa stepped out of the treeline, she held her hands out in front of her._

 _"Shadow Dragon Bomb!"_

 _Fifty spheres of her magic formed in the air before shooting down at Rassa with incredible speed. A resounding boom echoed in the valley as the bombs landed, and she lost sight of him as dust clouded the air. Her eyes darted left and right, but there was no sign of him._

 _"Where the hell did he go?" she muttered._

 _"Over there!" Blayze shouted, turning so that she could see Rassa standing down below brushing dirt off of his shirt. The dark wizard was a mess. His clothes were torn to shreds, and cuts and bruises littered his body... yet it didn't seem to have any effect on him._

 _Dammit._

 _"Put me down, then get airborne and stay clear of any attacks," she told Blayze._

 _The exceed looked at her sharply. "Are you sure?"_

 _"Yes, now hurry."_

 _Reluctantly, Blayze lowered her to the ground._

 _"Be careful," he murmured before shooting into the sky._

 _"That was cute," Rassa chuckled, touching his sunglasses lightly. "But my way is so much more fun."_

 _Before she could react, he pulled off his sunglasses, and all she saw were pale grey eyes before her vision went black._

 _She blinked, stumbling backwards and felt her back ram into something solid. She turned, and suddenly, her vision came back, but what she saw had confusion sweeping through her._

 _She was back in Fairy Tail, but something was terribly wrong._

 _The guild was destroyed. Parts of the walls and ceiling were missing, the staircase leading to the upper floors was crumbling, ash covered the floor like a second layer, and the smell of smoke filled her nostrils as she gasped for breath._

 _She could hear her heart pounding in her ears, and she couldn't seem to catch her breath. Panic consumed her so completely that it took her a moment to hear the wet, rattling breaths that didn't belong to her._

 _She spun to the right, and her heart stopped dead in her chest._

 _Lying on the ground in front of the bar was Natsu. Blood seeped through his clothes from the deep claw marks that covered his body, and his face was nearly unrecognizable due to the amount blood, bruises, and swelling. He choked on his own blood as he tried desperately to breathe, but the oxygen was barely reaching his lungs. Within a few minutes, he would be dead._

 _And standing over him with a manic smile... was Raven._

 _The breath left her lungs as she jerked back, and her feet caught on something, sending her tumbling to the ground with a loud grunt. She turned her wide eyes to the thing that tripped her... and screamed._

 _Erza's empty eyes were turned toward Raven, her broken body littered with blood and burns._

 _Raven scrambled backwards until her back hit a wall, and her hands flew up to cover her mouth as more bodies appeared._

 _Gray, his body cut clean in half._

 _Blayze, hanging limply from the banister._

 _Mira, her skull crushed and face in shreds._

 _Gramps, his body melted down to the bones._

 _Her body shook violently as she held in her screams. Tears streamed down her face, blurring her vision as fear and horror consumed her._

 _Laughter had her peeling her eyes away from the bodies, and she looked back up to see herself kneeling beside Natsu. As the other Raven lifted her head and brushed the hair out of her eyes, Raven froze._

 _Those bright blue eyes seemed to pierce her very soul._

 _"This is what awaits you, Raven."_

 _Lilith threw her head back and laughed as hellfire erupted from her body, and Raven did nothing as that fire devoured her._

* * *

"I don't remember anything between that and getting control of Lilith when Blayze put himself between her and Rassa," Raven said quietly. Her voice was hoarse from talking for so long, and she was left feeling drained after reliving that memory.

She saw Makarov's questioning look and was relieved when Blayze spoke up.

"Rassa was still using his magic on Raven when Lilith gained control of her body," he explained, "But for some reason, his magic didn't seem to effect Lilith, so he was left defenseless as she attacked him with her hellfire..."

Raven tuned Blayze out as he told Gramps all about Lilith's rampage and him throwing himself into the fray in order to stop her. She just stared blankly at her lap and didn't look up until Blayze finished.

Master Makarov was silent for a long while as he gathered his thoughts.

"Rassa 'Spinebreaker'," he said quietly, "is known for using Fear Manipulation. All he has to do is look into one's eyes, and that person will be transported into their greatest fear. After being in that fear for a certain amount of time, the person's heart will stop, and they will die."

Raven closed her eyes and rested her head on the back of the chair. "That's why it was so easy for Lilith to finally get control. Not only were we surrounded by dark magic, but my mind was left vulnerable while I was stuck in my fear."

The three of them were quiet for a few minutes.

Finally, Makarov broke the silence. "What else is there?"

Raven swallowed the lump in her throat and dredged up every last bit of courage that she had as she told Master Makarov everything that had happened with Lilith and Nirvana.

Half an hour later, Raven finished her story, and all was silent.

She didn't dare look at Master Makarov, but she could _feel_ the disappointment and anger radiating from him and prepared herself for what he had to say.

"You lied to my face when I asked if you were okay after your mission," he said, and although his voice was quiet and controlled, each word felt like a blow to the chest. "You _knowingly_ put your fellow guildmates and allies in danger by going after the Oracion Seis and putting yourself in a place surrounded with dark magic. You risked everyone's lives and this mission just because you were eager to fight the Oracion Seis... I have never been so disappointed in you, Raven."

She stared down at her clasped hands and said thickly, "I'm so sorry, Master. I never meant for this to happen. I was stupid and foolish, and I... I'm sorry."

Makarov leaned back in his chair and rubbed his face wearily. "I know that you would never intentionally harm anyone in this guild and that this was out of your control, but, Raven, you have to understand the severity of the situation-"

"I do," she said, finally looking up at him. "Believe me, I understand."

He sighed, looking exhausted, and guilt weighed on her shoulders.

"I will write Porlyusica," he said, eyes locking onto hers, "I will try to set up a date for us to go visit her and see if she has any insight on how to deal with Lilith. Until then, you and Blayze are banned from taking any jobs and leaving Magnolia. You will be at the guild at nine o'clock every morning, and you will stay here until closing. You will help Mirajane behind the bar with anything she needs and do chores around the guild that no one has gotten around to doing."

"Yes, Master," they murmured.

He glanced down his desk and started shuffling papers around.

"If that is all, then I believe we are done here."

Raven flinched at the clear dismissal in his voice and stood up on shaky legs. She made her way over to the door and walked out, vaguely aware of Blayze flying behind her.

The party downstairs was still going strong, but Raven walked down the stairs and into the crowd in a daze. She was drowning in her thoughts and emotions and wasn't aware of anything happening around her.

* * *

The second Erza saw Raven's face, she knew something was wrong. The dragon slayer strode through the room with a blank look in her eyes, and shadows curled around her ankles like a fog. Blayze was following behind her with a tight expression, his eyes never leaving Raven.

Erza didn't know what Raven and Master Makarov had been talking about in his office for so long, but whatever it was, it was bad, _very_ bad, if her shadows were any indication. She had only ever seen Raven's shadows act without her control on one occasion, years ago, when Raven had been distraught, and her shadows, in trying to protect and comfort her, had completely destroyed her room in Fairy Hills.

She didn't have time to warn anyone to stay away from her before Happy flew over to Raven.

"There you are!" he exclaimed, "You're missing out on all the fun!"

Just as Happy reached out his paw to touch Raven's shoulder, a shadow struck at him, fast as a viper, and threw him across the room. Before he could crash into the wall, Natsu jumped and caught Happy in his arms, the force of it sending him back a few feet.

Everyone in the guild gasped and stared at Raven in shock, but Raven's steps didn't falter. And Erza knew that Raven wasn't even aware of what had just happened.

As Raven passed by Erza's table, Lucy, sitting next to Erza, made to move toward Raven, and Erza leapt from her chair and stepped in front of Lucy, just as a shadow lashed out and struck Erza in the chest, sending her crashing into Lucy. The two of them fell to the ground in a heap, knocking the breath out of their lungs.

The guild grew deathly silent as Raven and Blayze walked out of the guild, and her shadows slammed the doors behind them with a resounding boom.

* * *

 **Agh, I'm soooo happy to have finally written this chapter! It flowed so easily for me, and I'm already looking forward to writing the next couple of chapters!**

 **I really hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it:)**

 **Don't forget to leave a review, letting me know your thoughts! Your reviews never fail to brighten my day!**

 **Until next time!**


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